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A HANDBOOK 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Uniform with this Work 

A HANDBOOK OF MODERN JAPAN. 
By Ernest W. Clement. With two 
maps and seventy-two illustrations from 
photographs. Seventh Edition. Price, 
$1.40 net. 

A. C. McClurg & Co. 

Chicago 







MT. may6n IN ERUPTION, ALBAY PROVINCE, LUZON 

















A HANDBOOK 

OF 

THE PHILIPPINES 


BY .jf' 

HAMILTON M. WRIGHT 

A 


WITH THREE NEW MAPS, MADE ESPECIALLY FOR THE 
BOOK, AND ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY 
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 


THIRD EDITION 

> 



CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG & CO, 
1909 









Copyright 

A. C. McClurg & Co. 
1907 

Published September 21, 1907 
Second Edition September 30, 1908 
Third Edition May 30, 1909 


Entered at Stationers’ Hal], London, England 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMERIDGE, U. S. A. 




TO MY FRIENDS 


OF 

THE FILIPINO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

WHO BELIEVE THAT THE COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY OF THE 
PHILIPPINES ENSURES THE SOLUTION OF THEIR 
POLITICAL PERPLEXITIES 
AND 

THE ABOUNDING WELFARE AND HAPPINESS OF THEIR 

OWN PEOPLE 








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Id 


r-i 


CONTENTS 


Introduction .xiii 

CHAPTER 

I. Physiography. 1 

II. Philippine Developments.15 


III. The Peoples of the Philippines .... 40 

IV. Manners, Customs, Dress, and Houses . . 56 

V. American Ideals and Schools in the Phil¬ 


ippines .70 

VI. Filipino Traits.88 

VII. Laws and Government. 103 

VIII. The Forests of the Philippines .... 122 

IX. History of the Philippines.135 

X. Agriculture.157 

XI. Manufactures.177 

XII. Hemp-Raising. 189 

XIII. Tobacco Industry .205 

XIY. The Sugar Industry. 230 

XV. Little-Known Opportunities.251 

XVI. The Philippines for the Sightseer . . . 263 

XVII. Philippine Ideals. 280 

XVIII. Observations and Bits of Travel . . . 296 

XIX. Christianity in the Philippines .... 312 

XX. Philippine Commerce.326 

XXI. The Filipino as a Worker.342 


Appendix 

Index 


361 

415 























































i 




















* 




























■ 








— 






































































ILLUSTRATIONS 


Mt. Mayon in Eruption, Albay Province, Luzon. . Frontispiece 

Facing Page 

A City in the Interior, showing Old Spanish Brick Streets 8 
Tucban, a Beautiful City in Southern Luzon ..... 8 

Native Animals of the Philippines . ... 12 

Railway-building .. 20 

Group of American and Native Officials ...... 28 

“Principales,” Santa Cruz, Marinduque ...... 28 

Igorrote Women raising Cotton on Rice Terraces ... 36 

Native Filipino Types. 42 

The Marvellous Igorrote Rice Terraces.48 

Igorrotes at Work on their Rice Terraces.52 

A Funeral on Romblon Island.68 

The Sultan of Sulu ...... 7 ..... . 72 

Native Buildings. 78 

Children of the Philippines.82 

Filipina Women of the Better Class ........ 96 

From the Primitive to the Modern.112 

Development of the Constabulary.118 

Native Canoes, hollowed from Single Logs.124 

Natives hauling Logs on the Beach.124 

Native Filipino Industries ..128 

The Lumber Industry. 132 

An Inland Settlement.138 

Spanish Architecture in the Philippines.150 

Peasant Women in the Marketplace at Tuguegarao . . 162 

The Family and Home of a Farmer in the Settled Interior 162 
A Cocoanut Grove.172 
























X 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Facing Pagk 

Boatload of Rich Fruits, Southern Luzon.172 

Types of Filipino Children.180 

Modern Industries.186 

River and Coast Views.194 

The Manufacture of Hemp.200 

Phases of the Lumber and Tobacco Industries .... 208 

Aspects of Philippine Industries.214 

Growing and Curing Tobacco, and a Native Tree . . . 224 

Characteristic Scenes in the Philippines.232 

A Sorghum Exhibit in an Industrial Parade.240 

A Bamboo Wagon in Use on a Tobacco Plantation . . . 240 

Scenes under Modern Conditions.252 

Primitive Means of Transportation.260 

The Manila of To-day.264 

Typical American Improvements.268 

Views in Manila.274 

A Group of Mayors of Small Cities.284 

A Group of Provincial Governors.290 

Native Women and Children.298 

Municipal Building, Santa Cruz, Marinduque .... 308 

Presidente’s (Mayor’s) Residence.308 

Characteristic Views.312 

Characteristic Types.318 

Types of Old Spanish Cathedrals.324 

The Philippines of To-day.330 

Characteristic Scenes in the Philippines.340 

Executive Offices and Municipal Council at Santa Cruz, 

Marinduque.346 

Senor Ricardo Aguado.352 


























MAPS 


Facing Pagh 


Railway Map of the Philippines.18 

Map of the Philippine Islands showing Tribal Divisions . 44 

Map of the Philippines showing Religions in Provinces . 324 ^ 


✓ 




INTRODUCTION 


T HIS book as its title indicates, is intended 
to portray the Philippines as they are to-day 
rather than as they have appeared in the 
trying crises through which they have passed. The 
history of the Philippines has not heretofore been 
neglected. Their interesting past has been chronicled 
by such eminent writers as T<5mas Comyn, John 
Foreman, F. R.G.S., Juan de la Concepcion, Martinez 
Zuniga, and many others; while their political (eco¬ 
nomic) perplexities have been detailed at great length 
by almost half a score of able writers. But of the 
Philippines to-day there are few sources to which the 
inquirer may turn for detailed information ; he can 
find no book treating of modern industrial conditions 
or interpreting the character of the people through 
the ready manner in which they are grasping a scheme 
of life which was unknown to them before the dawn 
of the twentieth century. 

The Filipino people are intelligent, deeply religious, 
and peaceable, and, for a tropical race, remarkably in¬ 
dustrious. Hospitality is their first collective virtue; 
generosity their strongest individual trait. They are 
imitative; they progress more rapidly when brought 
into contact with the white man than when left to 
their own devices. Through association with him 


XIV 


INTRODUCTION 


they learn a better standard of living and attain 
greater efficiency in working. In short, these adapt¬ 
able people improve socially, educationally, industri¬ 
ally, politically, and morally. In recent industrial 
undertakings they have shown an adaptability surpris¬ 
ing to even the closest students of the race. In the 
building of the Manila electric street railways, for 
instance, it was found that though requiring constant 
supervision at first, the laborers rapidly progressed; 
from being weak, listless, and inefficient workers they 
soon attained eighty per cent of the efficiency of the 
unskilled American laborer. This ability to accom¬ 
modate themselves to startling industrial changes the 
Filipinos share with other Oriental races, the Japanese 
being in the lead. But the writer believes that no 
one may safely assert that the character of this people 
will ever prohibit them from in time attaining the 
standards of the most advanced nations. 

Present industrial developments promise to effect 
a radical improvement in the material condition of the 
people. Under the direction and encouragement of 
the Government almost one thousand miles of railway 
are being constructed or rebuilt. These lines will lead 
through some of the richest tropical agricultural dis¬ 
tricts in the world, affording ready transportation to 
densely populated districts that heretofore have been 
handicapped by the lack of it, and, also, opening to 
development new and unsettled regions of great re¬ 
sources. The Insular Government of the Philippines 
is undertaking permanent harbor improvements, road¬ 
building, and manufactures, as well as the establish¬ 
ment of public schools throughout the islands. At 


INTRODUCTION 


xv 


these schools there are now more than half a million 
children learning a common tongue. The Government 
has also undertaken the calling of a legislative assem¬ 
bly, which will afford the people a large measure of 
home rule and teach them the art of self-government; 
the enforcement of sanitary and quarantine regula¬ 
tions; the establishment of experimental farms and 
industrial schools, and the encouragement of legitimate 
private enterprises. Provincial and municipal coun¬ 
cils, under the administration of native officials and 
guided by the Government, are undertaking many 
public works which are characteristic of similar 
bodies in more advanced communities. A number of 
American concerns are already engaged in productive 
enterprises, such as mining, hardwood lumber, sugar, 
hemp, and tobacco. 

The profound influence of this industrial awaken¬ 
ing upon so assimilative a people as the Filipinos can 
scarcely be overestimated. They belong to the Malay 
stock, which is one of the oldest families of the human 
race. Possessing a natural liking for commerce and 
barter, they have survived because of their adapta¬ 
bility. The most highly developed Malay branches, 
as for instance the Filipino Tagalogs, had attained a 
well-defined civilization long before the advent of the 
Dutch and Spanish. The modern civilization which 
they are assuming, therefore, is woven of the same 
habits of production, barter,, and trade to which these 
people have for centuries been accustomed. 

Upon the solution of the humanitarian and economic 
(so-called political) problems in the Philippines de¬ 
pends the material welfare of the population. The 


XVI 


INTRODUCTION 


opinions of responsible Filipino men of affairs and of 
intelligent foreign observers meet in the belief that 
with the commercial growth of the islands all the so- 
called “ problems ” are disappearing. In short, the 
people in the Philippines, without regard to politics 
or nationality, favor the encouragement of commerce 
and desire the coming of capital under reasonable 
regulations. As the islands continue to develop, there 
will be less and less profitless political discussion. 
The people there will be busy and at work, and the 
attention of Americans will be directed more and 
more to the vast opportunities presented by the fertile 
archipelago. The Philippines will not only demand 
an increasing supply of American wares and, on the 
other hand, produce those tropic staples of which we 
are in need, but they will sooner reach that stature by 
which they may attain the promised independence, — 
a condition we will gladly grant as soon as we can 
honorably and safely do so, while we shall have gained 
not only a tremendous hold on the commerce of the 
Orient, but the eternal gratitude and friendship of the 
Filipino people. 

As a strategic trade centre the Philippines are im¬ 
portant. There has been a degree of education as to 
American goods which has not obtained in other por¬ 
tions of the great tropical Orient. American importers 
are everywhere in the archipelago handling American 
wares. Elsewhere in the tropical East, from Egypt to 
Saigon, Americans are but slightly represented. Then, 
too, the Philippines themselves offer an excellent 
market for our goods. The islands purchase annually 
ten million dollars’ worth of imports from Europe, 


INTRODUCTION 


xvii 


most of which we shall supply as soon as our manu¬ 
facturers learn to put their goods up in form to meet 
the demands of the countries in which they are sold. 

The Philippines to-day offer us as great—or greater 
—opportunities than any Spanish-American or Oriental 
country. It is to unfold these exceptional advantages, 
to interpret the past history of the Philippines in the 
light of the amazing grasp with which the natives are 
seizing upon present innovations, and at the same time 
to afford the manufacturer, the importer, the exporter, 
the business man, the investor, and the tourist a sim¬ 
ple reference book of the present-day Philippines, 
their advantages and disadvantages, that this volume 
is written. 

The writer has had perhaps most unusual oppor¬ 
tunities for first-hand information. During many 
months he travelled in the interior of the archipelago, 
covering almost two thousand miles on horseback 
and afoot, between various localities, and accomplish¬ 
ing still greater distances by boat and other means 
here unrecorded. In this journey were collected the 
photographs and much of the information herein 
presented. 

H. M. W. 

San Francisco, 

June 1 , 1907. 


/ 



A HANDBOOK 

OF 

THE PHILIPPINES 

CHAPTER I 

PHYSIOGRAPHY 

Outline of Topics : Situation; land area; position on world’s 
highways — A wedge into trade of tropical Orient — Growth of 
commerce; lines of travel — Size of islands; mountains, volcanoes, 
earthquakes — Mineral springs ; rivers ; harbors — Distribution of 
population; fertile unsettled regions — Climatic conditions ; trade 
winds — Flora and fauna; domestic animals — Manila, the trans¬ 
shipping centre for Oriental trade; dock facilities—Bibliography. 

T HE Philippine group embraces more than 
3,140 islands scattered beneath the fringe 
of China, of which mainland it was at one 
time a part, and extending a little over sixteen 
degrees of latitude, — from 4° 40' N. to 21° 10' N., a 
distance of 1,152 statute miles from north to south. 
The east and west boundaries extend from 116° 40' to 
126° 35' longitude E. of Greenwich, a distance of 682 
statute miles from west to east. 

Few people, perhaps, realize the comparatively large 
land area of the Philippines. Their aggregate soil area 
is 127,853 square miles. The archipelago, therefore, 
i l 


2 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

exceeds in size the combined area of the States of 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware 
(104,970 square miles). It is nearly twice as large 
as the live States of New England (66,425 square 
miles); larger than the New England States, with 
New York and New Jersey (123,860 square miles); 
and it is 7,000 square miles larger than the British 
Isles. 

The acquisition of the Philippines has perhaps more 
than all else tended to bring the United States out of 
itself and into the world. The reason of this is evident 
to every one who recalls the position of the archi¬ 
pelago on the world’s highways. Manila is the logical 
port of call for craft plying between the Occident and 
the tropical Orient, or between the Orient and Aus¬ 
tralasia. A vessel leaving Europe for China or Japan, 
via Cape Horn or Suez, will approach the islands 
within a few hundred miles. Similarly, one crossing 
the Pacific is obliged, if it continue its voyage, to pass 
north of Australia or south of China. Ships may 
hardly circumnavigate the globe by natural routes 
without touching upon the Philippines; indeed it was 
an undertaking of this sort that led to the discovery 
of the archipelago when, more than three centuries 
ago, Magellan sailed around the world, the first navi¬ 
gator to accomplish the feat. 

The Philippines is the point of least resistance at 
which Americans may enter into the vast trade of the 
tropical Orient,—a commerce which will doubtless 
within a few generations exceed any in the world’s 


PHYSIOGRAPHY 


3 


history. Our direct personal contact with Oriental 
peoples amid their own surroundings would seem, 
therefore, to afford an enlightening education as to 
the needs of Oriental trade, and at the same time the 
opportunity to cultivate between ourselves and the 
people of the Orient a mutual appreciation of the good 
traits of each. 

Since the American occupation of the Philippines 
the rapid growth of commerce with the islands has 
served to bring us into close communication with the 
Orient, and to establish firm foundations for a rela¬ 
tionship that otherwise would have been long de¬ 
ferred. Manila, the chief port of the Philippines, is 
distant, as vessels run, between 7,000 and 8,000 miles 
from the Pacific Coast. It is reached by steamship 
lines from all our Pacific Coast ports, — San Diego, 
San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver, Tacoma, and 
Seattle. The usual duration of a journey is thirty 
days. All commercial vessels stop at the leading 
Japanese ports en route , thus adding considerably to 
the time of the trip. From the more northern Pacific 
Coast ports Japan is often reached in fourteen days 
or less; steamers not remaining long in Japanese 
ports could reach Manila a week later at the most. 
The vessels engaged in transpacific trade are not so 
fast as those on the Atlantic. A demand is growing, 
however, for the establishment of direct lines of fast 
steamers between San Francisco and Manila, and 
between Seattle and Manila. Save the government 
transports, not all Orient-going steamship companies 


4 


A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


extend their run to Manila. On some lines it is 
necessary to transfer at Hong Kong. Manila is 
reached from the Atlantic Coast via Europe and Suez. 
It requires about forty-five days to accomplish the 
journey via Suez. The Philippines are also served 
by direct lines to South American, European, Aus¬ 
tralian, and adjacent Oriental ports. Tramp steamers 
from the Malay Archipelago, the Straits Settlements, 
and Australia call frequently. Indeed, they would 
often be compelled to avoid their accustomed routes 
did they not come within the Philippine group. The 
islands are distant 6,124 miles by the northern route 
from San Francisco, and a little less from Portland, 
Vancouver, Tacoma, or Seattle. Ships going via the 
southern route (Hawaii) travel, of course, a greater 
distance. Owing to important Japanese and Chinese 
ports of call, the distance usually traversed is about 
8,000 miles. 

Mindanao (area 46,721 square miles) and Luzon 
(area 44,235 square miles) are by far the largest of 
the Philippine group, each of them exceeding Cuba 
(area 43,000 square miles), which was acquired at 
the same time. Samar is the next largest island, 
having an area of 5,448 square miles; Palawan 
(Paragua) has an area of 5,037 square miles; the 
Visayan group, of which Negros, Panay, and Cebu 
are the principal islands, has an aggregate area of 
25,302 square miles. Panay is the largest of this 
group, 5,103 square miles; Negros, 4,854 square 
miles; Cebu, 1,782 square miles. Leyte Island has 


PHYSIOGRAPHY 


5 


an area of 4,214 square miles, and Mindoro 4,108 
square miles. Only two other islands, Bohol (area 
1,614 square miles) and Masbate (area 1,782 square 
miles) exceed in size a thousand square miles. In 
all cases the area of adjacent islets has been included 
in that of the main island. 

In general the Philippines are traversed by moun¬ 
tain ranges of volcanic origin, running from north to 
south. While the larger islands have distinct systems 
of their own, these are brought into harmony with the 
general mass of the archipelago by submarine ranges. 
The occasional outcropping of the hidden ranges forms 
a series of links connecting the long narrow islands 
that lie north and south. 

There are many volcanoes in the islands, twenty of 
which are more or less active, and thirty extinct or 
dormant. The most recent eruption is that of Mayon 
or Albay (altitude 8,970 feet), on Luzon, which oc¬ 
curred in 1900. Apo, near Davao Bay, Mindanao, 
the highest peak in the archipelago (altitude 10,811 
feet), is solfataric, and still gives vent to grumblings 
and the spouting of sulphureous steam. One of the 
most interesting volcanoes is Taal, in Batangas prov¬ 
ince, Luzon. The mountain rises precipitously from 
the midst of a fresh-water lake to a height of 1,050 
feet. The last violent eruption of Taal was in 1873, 
although a picturesque eruption occurred in 1903. 
Earthquakes are of almost continual occurrence, slight 
shakes being felt at intervals of every few days or 
weeks in one part or another of the archipelago. 


6 


A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Owing to the pliant framework of the native dwell¬ 
ings, which are constructed of nipa and bamboo, even 
severe earthquakes ordinarily do but little damage. 
The last violent earthquake in Manila happened in 
1880. 

The islands abound in mineral springs, some of 
which have been known for generations to the people 
of the Philippines for their medicinal effects. Their 
waters are of all temperatures, from cold to boiling. 
They may be roughly classified as sulphur, saline, 
alkaline, and purgative. An analysis of over fifty of 
the springs shows them to rival in beneficial prop¬ 
erties such famous waters as those at Saratoga in 
the United States, Kissingen in Bavaria, Wiesbaden 
in Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, Harrowgate in England, 
Yichy in France, or Heilbronn in Germany. Los 
Banos, Laguna province, thirty-five miles by lake 
from Manila, is the most famous resort in the Philip¬ 
pines, and is visited by thousands. The waters are 
strongly impregnated with sulphates of sodium, mag¬ 
nesium, calcium, and potassium, as at Seidlitz and 
Carlsbad, Bohemia. 

The abundant precipitation in the Philippines and 
the rugged character of the interior have given rise to 
many streams and rivers, which are always of con¬ 
siderable volume in comparison with their length. 
The largest river in the Philippines is the Rio Grande 
de Mindanao, which, with numerous large affluents, 
drains the great central basin of Mindanao Island. 
The river begins its remarkable course at an altitude 


PHYSIOGRAPHY 


7 


of 5,000 feet above sea level, and, having received 
the waters of two large inland lakes, it moderates its 
fall, after a distance of one hundred and twenty-five 
miles as the crow flies, continuing its course to the 
port of Cotabato in the Celebes Sea, a distance of 
forty-five miles further, in a straight line. The river 
is navigable for boats drawing from six to eight feet 
of water up to and through the lakes mentioned. 
Although less in volume, the Rio Cagayan, debouch¬ 
ing into the China Sea at Aparri, the northernmost 
port of Luzon, drains a greater area, 16,000 square 
miles, which territory embraces almost the entire 
northeast half of Luzon. At certain seasons the 
river is navigable to light-draft river boats for a 
distance of almost two hundred miles. 1 Once every 
year the Rio Cagayan overflows its immediate banks, 
rendering artificial fertilization unnecessary to the 
continuous growing of crops. Sixty-five miles from 
its mouth it is as wide as the Mississippi at St. Louis. 
The Agusan, the second river of Mindanao, and third 
in the archipelago in length and volume, drains, with 
its great tributaries, the basin of Surigao between two 
parallel ranges, and empties into the sea on the north. 
There is a considerable number of other large rivers 
in the archipelago; among them the Panay, the rivei 
taking the name of that island, is one of the finest 
in the archipelago, comparable in volume to the Rio 
Grande de Cagayan and the Rio Grande de Mindanao. 

1 We do not know, however, whether boats have actually gone 
further than Echague, one hundred and forty-seven miles. 


8 


A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


There are many harbors in the Philippines, afford¬ 
ing commercial and coastwise advantages unsurpassed 
in the Far East. Of these, Manila Bay is the most 
important. A concrete sea-wall has recently been 
constructed affording an absolutely land-locked har¬ 
bor, secure from the severest typhoons, for vessels 
drawing thirty feet or less. Deep-sea wharves are 
now being constructed by the Insular Government, 
which will permit the largest ocean-going craft to tie 
directly to the docks. When this is completed Manila 
will be the only port in all the Far East which affords 
this facility. In Japanese and Chinese treaty-ports 
ocean-going craft are obliged to transfer their car¬ 
goes to lighters. Vessels drawing eighteen feet of 
water can enter the Pasig River, Manila. 

The population of the Philippines is between seven 
and eight millions, probably close to the latter figure* 
Of these more than seven-eighths are Christians, 
being devoted to the Roman Catholic religion. The 
first church was built in Manila in 1571; since that 
date Spanish and native priests have penetrated the 
archipelago. As a rule the more civilized peoples 
— embracing both the Christians and the Moros 
(Mohammedans) — are confined to the coast regions 
and great valley systems of the entire archipelago ; 
the wild or pagan tribes live in the mountains and 
more or less elevated valleys of the interior. While 
the great bulk of the population is of Malay origin, it 
is divided up among various dialect tribes, and in 
no region of equal area are there so many different 




TUCBAN, A BEAUTIFUL CITY IN SOUTHERN LUZON 










































. 

* 















PHYSIOGRAPHY 


9 


tongues spoken as in the Philippines; but all the 
peoples are brought under a degree of homogeneity 
through their common racial origin and the general 
establishment of Christianity. 

The steep volcanic mountain ranges, usually run¬ 
ning in parallel courses, have given rise to swift 
streams, which, carrying down the detritus of the 
hills, and the mass of decayed tropical vegetation, 
have built up broad and almost level valleys and 
plains of an alluvial and mineralized soil of exceeding 
fertility. Some of these valleys, as, for instance, the 
Magat Valley, a tributary of Cagayan Valley, of north¬ 
ern Luzon, extend two hundred miles or more from 
the sea, their upper courses presenting the appear¬ 
ance of broad and almost level plateaus. These fer¬ 
tile regions are almost uninhabited, the spread of 
population usually being defined by the limits of 
economical transportation. During the rainy season 
inhabitants of the interior, lacking good roads or 
trails, and having flimsy bridges, are frequently cut 
off from the coast for weeks at a time. 

Though the Philippines are all in the tropics, they 
possess widely variant climatic conditions; no gene¬ 
ral statement regarding the climate could be made 
which would not be the subject of innumerable well- 
founded exceptions. As a rule, however, the climate 
upon the seacoast may be described as temperate 
and delightful from November to February inclu¬ 
sive; it is excessively hot in the months of April, 
May, and June; and intermediate in March, July, 


10 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

August, and September. Over and above all are 
the cool nights everywhere. The annual variation 
in temperature is not uniform throughout the archi¬ 
pelago, being less in places nearest the equator. 
Even the highest temperatures are perhaps more 
bearable than, say, that of New York City during its 
hottest period. Sunstroke is not known. The 
high mountain districts present a temperate climate 
with temperate zone vegetation and animal life. The 
monthly mean in Manila (“ the hottest place in the 
Philippines ” ) varies from 77° Fahrenheit in January 
to 83° in May. The rainfall is about seventy-five 
inches annually, two-thirds of which falls in the months 
of July, August, September, and October. As is usual 
in tropical countries, business is suspended during 
midday hours. The rainy season is determined by 
the high sierras, which arrest the trade winds, and 
cause the precipitation of moisture. Thus, on the 
west coast of the archipelago the dry season lasts 
from November to May; the rainy season from June 
to October. On the east coast, on the other hand, 
the season from November to May is distinguished by 
much precipitation, and the period from June to Oc¬ 
tober is far from being as wet as on the west coasts. 
Low-lying regions not influenced by a mountainous 
spur frequently possess uniform rainfall throughout 
the year. The baguios , or strong winds, occur from 
April to October, and are most frequent in September. 

In their unusual variety of fauna and flora the Phil¬ 
ippines display interesting evidence of the fact that 


PHYSIOGRAPHY 


11 


they have been subjected to many volcanic and glacial 
changes. In the Benguet mountain region of Luzon 
is found a cross-bill bird, the only species adapted to 
live on the seeds of the pines found there. This bird, 
belonging to the temperate zone, was evidently driven 
southward by advance of the glaciers in remote ages ; 
and as the temperature of the lowlands became 
more and more tropical it escaped to the more con¬ 
genial temperature of the mountains, where it is still 
found. The existence of pines and oaks in the Ben¬ 
guet and other mountain regions, and of other life 
forms corresponding to those of China, indicates that 
once the archipelago was connected with the con¬ 
tinent. This deduction is supported by geological 
research. There are 284 genera embracing 691 iden¬ 
tified species of birds in the Philippines. The num¬ 
ber of species is about as great as in the United 
States, though the number of birds is small. Many 
of the species are limited to single islands; others, 
indeed, as on Mount Apo in Mindanao, are confined 
to a solitary mountain, and, so far as is known, exist 
nowhere else in the world, an evidence of the vol¬ 
canic origin of the archipelago. Two indigenous 
species of deer occur; one — a large, grayish, thick¬ 
bodied animal of which there are millions — is found 
everywhere in the forests and less-inhabited open 
places. The tiny mouse-deer and the Japanese deer 
abound in some localities. Horses and carabao (In¬ 
dian w'ater buffalo) have become wild. Other game 
includes wild boar and jungle fowl, both of which 


12 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

breed freely with domestic varieties; the timerau , or 
jungle buffalo, of Mindoro Island; pigeons, of which 
there are forty-two species, some exceeding in size a 
barnyard fowl and found in great numbers; and 
ducks, geese, and brant. Predatory animals are lim¬ 
ited to a small wild-cat, the boa constrictor, which is 
infrequent, and the crocodile. Domestic goats, hogs, 
chickens, ducks, peafowl, and sheep, thrive in some 
localities. Horses and carabao, except when isolated, 
have been subject to fearful ravages by the plague, 
and at a recent period the loss of work animals for 
the fields plunged the islands into famine. Fresh 
and salt water fish are numerous, and fishing is a 
large industry. 

A feature of the islands is their vast forests, which 
contain valuable hardwoods, embracing ebonies, ma¬ 
hoganies, and other cabinet and construction woods 
which, though little known in the United States, 
have met with appreciation in the Philippines, China, 
and to a limited extent in Europe. It is estimated 
by the Forestry Bureau of the Philippines that two- 
thirds of the archipelago is covered with forests with 
a value of two billions of dollars. The wood commer¬ 
cially utilized is said not to exceed one per cent of 
that which annually goes to waste through natural 
causes. As a rule, the densest stands of timber are 
found where there is least population. Thus, on the 
island of Cebu, the most thickly populated, there are 
no extensive commercial forests. 

We can hardly appreciate too clearly the unusual 



NATIVE ANIMALS OF THE PHILIPPINES 

Filipino racing ponies — A horn-billed Callas bird — Sheep in the 
Cagayan Valley — Philippine baca, or beef cow — 
Carabao team hauling logs on the beach 






















PHYSIOGRAPHY 


13 


physiographical advantages of the Philippines. The 
importance of Manila, the chief port, as a shipping 
centre depends not alone on the agricultural and 
mineral resources of the archipelago, but upon the 
facilities at this port for shipping goods to America, 
China, Japan, Cochin China, the Straits Settlements, 
Java, Borneo, India, and the islands of Oceanica 
and Australia. The city’s geographical location, 
her great harbor, and the new dock system, which, 
when completed, will permit the entrance of the 
largest ocean-going steamers, all indicate that Manila 
may soon become the trade centre of the Orient. 
Manila is two days from Hong Kong, five from 
Shanghai, five from Singapore, eleven from Col¬ 
ombo, and thirteen from Sydney. Navigable waters 
wash the shores of a thousand cities and towns, 
through which pass the entire over-seas traffic of 
the most densely populated portions of the world; 
and Manila stands at the gateway of this vast trade. 
Logically, Manila should be the terminus of all the 
transpacific lines, and this position will assuredly be 
rapidly assumed, for the early completion of modern 
dock facilities will render it the most economical 
shipping port in the Orient. In all other Oriental 
ports cargoes must be transshipped by lighters, 
junks, launches, or river steamers. When Manila 
becomes, as it assuredly will, the first port of call for 
transpacific ships, it will be easily reached by vessels 
of a speed equalling Atlantic travel from California 
in from thirteen to sixteen days. By reason of their 


14 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


position the Philippines are a connecting link 
between the United States and the peoples of the 
Orient. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

“ Pronouncing Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary of 
the Philippine Islands ” (Government Printing Office, 1902). 
Census of the Philippines. Report of the Philippine Com¬ 
mission. 


CHAPTER II 

PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 

Outline of Topics : Improvements in the means of transporta¬ 
tion — Concessions by the Insular Government for railroad systems 

— Character of the country to be opened up by the new railroads 

— Changes that will be wrought by the railways — Harbor improve¬ 
ment, dredging, docks, piers, breakwaters, light-houses, etc. — Post- 
offices and postal savings banks—Efforts for the improvement of 
the public health — Opportunities for Americans in all parts of the 
Philippines — American enterprise beneficial to native industries 

— Examples of profitable American activities — Foreign banks — 
Peace works of the American array — Good work done by the news¬ 
papers — Salubrity of the climate — Bibliography. 

T HE Philippine Islands seem to-day on the 
threshold of a wonderful new industrial era. 1 
The construction of a thousand miles of up- 
to-date railroads; the improvement of harbors and 
the building of piers that offer the only direct trans¬ 
shipping facilities for ocean-going vessels in the Far 
East; the entrance of enterprising Americans into 
almost every line of industry and into every part of 
the islands; the stimulating initiative of the Philippine 
Government, and the expenditure of many millions as 

l “New era” is a term apt to be overused in describing the prog¬ 
ress of hitherto undeveloped regions, yet present developments in 
the islands, in contrast with the past, render the term peculiarly 
appropriate. 


16 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


cash wages in return for useful industrial emplo} T ment, 
— these and other factors would seem to promise as 
bright a future for the Philippines as may be ex¬ 
pected for any land in all the Orient. In short, the 
American era is preparing the land for a state of 
bustling activity which would have been impossible 
with the poor roads, inadequate transportation facil¬ 
ities, and crude or primitive methods of agriculture 
prevalent under the former regime. 

The building of the railroads is, perhaps, the most 
important step in all the industrial — and therefore 
sociological — history of the Philippines. The agri¬ 
culturist has been but little stimulated to produce 
more than will supply him with the bare necessaries 
of life. In many regions there have been no means of 
profitably transporting his products to the markets 
of the world. While it seems certain that no more 
fertile land lies under the sun, it is probable that there 
is no country of equal natural wealth where less has 
been done along modern lines. 

More than a year ago the Insular Govermnent, under 
act of Congress, granted concessions for the building of 
two general systems of railroads. These systems may, 
broadly, be classed as the Luzon Island lines, and the 
lines for the Visayan Islands, 1 L e., Negros, Cebu, and 
Panay. The franchises call for the construction of 430 
miles of railroads on Luzon Island, and about 300 miles 

1 So called because these islands are all inhabited by Christianized 
Filipino people who speak the Visayan dialect, a tongue spoken by 
more than two and one-half millions of people. 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


17 


on the Visayas. Two features are notable in the plan¬ 
ning of the roads; first, that they will go through 
the most densely populated regions; and second, that 
their terminals in every case will be upon deep, safe, 
and convenient harbors. Active work has long begun. 
The first railroad party, composed of fifty engineers, 
contractors, and surveyors, arrived in Manila June 8, 
1906. In March, 1907, 4000 men were grading on 
the island of Cebu, 1500 were at work on Panay 
Island, and thousands of others were at work on 
almost every branch. 1 2 On Luzon great progress has 
been made. Grading has already been begun on the 
line up the north coast; most of the surveys and 
rights of way are executed; and construction yards 
now finished are ready to discharge their mass of 
derricks and engines to the interior. 

1 The lines in the Visayan Islands are being built by a syndicate 
composed of Messrs. J. G. White and Company; William Salomon 
and Company; Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York; and Charles W. 
Swift of Detroit; with whom are associated the International Bank¬ 
ing Corporation, H. R. Wilson, and Heidelbach, Ickelheimer and 
Company of New York. Por commercial convenience the Philippine 
Railway Company has been formed, which is the assignee of the 
award. Under the terms of the award the Government grants a 
perpetual concession, and guarantees four per cent on the first 
mortgage bonds for a period of thirty years. Dating from May 
28, 1906, the Company has six months to complete its plans and 
surveys, and twelve months to complete the first hundred miles of 
route, etc. The work is therefore proceeding more rapidly than 
provided by the Government stipulations. 

The Luzon lines will be built by Messrs. Speyer and Company of 
New York, who have formed the Manila Railroad Company and 
taken over the Manila and Dagupan Railroad. The terms under 
which this Company operates are practically the same as those for 

2 


18 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

The Manila Railway Company, which has been or¬ 
ganized to operate under the award made for the lines 
on Luzon Island, has assumed control of the exist¬ 
ing Manila and Dagupan Railway, which, with its 
branches, is now more than 200 miles in length. 
The thorough improvement of this line will insure 
the islands about 1000 miles of first-class railroads 
in the near future. 

As will be noted by reference to the map (see page 
18), the systems as now guaranteed are detached. 
There will be the lines radiating north and south 
from Manila, including the present Manila and Dag¬ 
upan Railway; the lines in southern Luzon peninsula, 
and lines on each of the islands, Negros, Panay, and 
Cebu. These lines, affording transportation facilities 
to much more than half the population, will doubtless 
some day be widely extended to form a complete net¬ 
work on all the larger islands. Ultimately it is pro¬ 
posed to connect the lines to be built on southern 
Luzon peninsula with those of the major portion of 
Luzon, extending the railroad across the mountains 

the Visayan lines. The Luzon company does not, however, receive 
a guarantee on its bonds from the Government. Quality of con¬ 
struction of both roads is to be up to first grade modern standards. 
The lines are being equipped with heavy American rails and heavy 
ballast; with steel and concrete bridges to cross the very numerous 
creeks, estuaries, and rivers, with modern stations throughout the 
lines, and with block systems and much double track at their ter¬ 
minals. The Philippine Government appointed a Commissioner of 
Railroads, who reports the progress of the work. Taxation is at 
one-half of one per cent of gross earnings for thirty years, and one 
and one-half per cent for fifty years; thereafter, the rate to be fixed 
by the Government. 








PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


19 


of interior Luzon and down the vast and fertile 
Cagayan Valley to Aparri, the most northern port 
of the island, and to follow up the branch now being 
extended from Dagupan north to Laoag on the north¬ 
west coast of Luzon. From Albay, on Luzon penin¬ 
sula, to Aparri, via Manila, would give to Luzon a 
“ Trans-continental System,” as it were, of almost 
1000 miles in length, while the extension to Laoag 
and other points would greatly add to the proposed 
mileage on this single island. 

The layman unfamiliar with names and places will 
be interested to know something of the general char¬ 
acter of the country to be opened up by the new 
railroads. On Negros Island the line, of 108 miles 
in length, will run from the harbor of Escalente, 
passing through the greatest sugar-producing regions 
of the Philippines, on a course ten miles from the 
coast and generally parallel to it, along the northern 
and northwestern coasts as far as the harbor of San 
Juan de Ilog. About three-fourths of the sugar out¬ 
put of the Philippines is raised on a narrow strip of 
coast extending some fifty miles south of the town of 
Bacalot, through which the fine will run. There being 
no ports on the west side of Negros, at present all the 
sugar is hauled out of the interior and sent to Iloilo 
in small sailing craft that come up the coast with the 
tide. Thus the line will insure shipment directly 
from plantation to steamers. In Negros, also, there are 
vast forests of commercial hardwoods, red lauan , the 
“softest hardwood,” which reaches great size, being 


20 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

especially abundant. Narra (mahogany) and other 
excellent woods are quite plentiful. The large 
spreading section embraced by the southeast and 
southwest coasts of Negros Island is not included 
in the immediate plans, for though very rich and 
fraught with great possibilities, that region is not 
densely settled. 

On Cebu Island, the most densely populated of 
the Philippines, the line will run from Danao, along 
the coast of Argao, sixty miles. The right has been 
granted the Philippine Railway Company, which is 
undertaking the work for the Visayan Syndicate, to 
build across the island to the west coast, an additional 
distance of twenty miles. The northern terminus will 
approach rich coal fields. If the people patronize this 
line as they do the electric railways in Manila and 
the Manila and Dagupan steam railroad, the trains 
will generally be crowded to “standing room only.” 

The line of Panay Island will run from Iloilo, — a 
city of street cars, electric lights, and modern improve¬ 
ments, — on the southern coast, which now possesses 
a most excellent harbor, directly north through the 
rich and thickly populated interior to the town of 
Capiz on the north of the island, with a branch to 
the perfect harbor of Batan. The line, exclusive of 
terminals, will be ninety-five miles long. 

Some of the long-settled regions to be opened up 
by these roads should possess, in the near future, ex¬ 
cellent opportunities for the introduction of Ameri¬ 
can machinery and other wares. Money burns the 




RAILWAY-BUILDING 

Excavating gang at work, island of Cebu — The first 
completed grading — Checking off Philippine 
Railway Company employees 




















































































































































PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


21 


Filipino pocket, and when the farmers can profit¬ 
ably ship their products they will become great pur¬ 
chasers. Altogether, the railroads will change the face 
of the islands as rapidly as any single industrial 
project undertaken by the Japanese has shared in 
bringing the Flowery Kingdom to the forefront of 
industrial nations. They will open up some of the 
richest plantation regions in the world, where nature 
has placed a veritable garden spot for the production 
of raw materials and staples of the tropics. 

Even more wonderful, because vaster and more di¬ 
verse in resources, are the rich territories that will be 
opened up on the island of Luzon. One of the most 
important systems on Luzon will be that on the ex¬ 
treme southern peninsula, running from the port of 
Pasacao, on the Gulf of Ragay, south and across the 
peninsula to the city of Albay on its eastern coast. 
The spur from Pasacao will join the main line at the 
important city of Nueva Caceres on the Bicol River, 
and reached by coastwise vessels, from which point 
the line radiates in several directions. These lines 
will open up, without doubt, the greatest rope and 
cordage producing region of its area in the world. 
The three provinces to be penetrated by these lines, 
Ambos Camarines, Albay, and Sorsogon, produce the 
greater part of the hemp output of the Philippines. 
Much good land can be had along the railroad survey 
for hemp-growing. An enormous timber belt con¬ 
taining the most valuable of the many varieties of 
hardwoods, skirts the western coast of the peninsula, 


22 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


and much of it is directly tributary to the port of 

Pasacao. 

The most important system is that which will 
radiate in all directions from Manila, including the 
present well-established lines. A series of spurs 
will range south from Manila through the thickly 
populated parts of Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, and 
Tayabas Provinces, meeting the sea at the port of 
Batangas and also the considerable town of Lucena, 
with a probable direct connection with Pagbilao, 
which will undoubtedly be an important harbor. 
The region produces about $2,000,000 worth of 
cocoanuts annually, and is rich in bananas, oils, and 
many native products. On occasions the traveller 
has spent four days in going from Manila to Lucena, 
but with the railroads he should accomplish the 
journey in as many hours. 

Two lines will lead from Dagupan, the present 
terminus of the Manila and Dagupan Railway. One 
of these will run to the base of the great coast range 
to Camp One, whence the famous Benguet Mountain 
Road, twenty-four miles in length, reaches up to the 
summer capital at Baguio, elevation 5,000 feet. The 
other extends from Dagupan along the west coast of 
Luzon to San Fernando de Union. Ultimately it 
will be extended along the whole of the west coast of 
Northern Luzon as far as Laoag, and thus will develop 
the entire rich and populous region of the Ilocano 
people. Several branches will lead from Manila into 
interior Luzon. Altogether, with the exception of 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 23 

the marvellous Cagayan Valley, which is fortunate 
in possessing excellent water transportation facilities, 
there is no rich and settled country that will not be 
reached by the railroads. 

It is not hard to forecast the changes that the rail¬ 
roads will work. Along the new line of the Manila 
and Dagupan Railway, through the interior province 
of Nueva Ecija to Cabanatuan, the advance of the 
new cultivation in a rich rice and sugar country has 
kept pace with the completion of the road. The pro¬ 
duction extends as far as the eye can reach on both 
sides of the road, despite the general opinion that the 
Filipino farmers would not be disposed to settle in 
new country as the American farmer has settled in 
the West. A similar advance is to be noted along 
the line recently built from Manila to Antipolo (alti¬ 
tude 600 feet), a distance of twenty-five miles. So 
rapidly do agricultural conditions respond to adequate 
transportation that even in times of depression pros¬ 
perity was found along the lines of the railroads. 

The earnings of the Manila and Dagupan Railway 
are now more than double those of the best year under 
the Spanish regime. Although the Company was 
obliged to go to great expense in the repair of bridges, 
stations, track, and equipment, which were burned, 
torn up, and in other ways destroyed during the insur¬ 
rection, it is now in a most satisfactory condition. 

The bulk of the money required for the railroads 
has been raised in London, and not in the United 
States. The major part of the capital expended in 


24 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the building of the Manila street railways — a most 
profitable and successful venture — was, say the man¬ 
agers, raised in England after the promoters had un¬ 
successfully ventured to enlist capitalists of New York 
and other centres. According to press reports, the 
$26,500,000 of bonds for the Luzon lines was largely 
over-subscribed in London, where the issue was floated 
by the London branch of the Speyers. However, the 
English are much more familiar with colonial enter¬ 
prises (England has been made great by her colonies), 
and they have also more confidence in company con¬ 
cerns than Americans. 

Closely allied to the building of the railroads is the 
improvement of harbors by the Government. The 
most important works have been undertaken in 
Manila. In September, 1906, the transport Logan 
was laid alongside of the new military pier (dimen¬ 
sions 500 by 50 feet); and that was the first occasion 
where a vessel of equal draught tied up in a far 
Oriental port. Contracts for the dredging of Manila 
harbor and the building of great breakwaters have 
been completed. The port of Manila is now gener¬ 
ally considered the best in the Orient. Ocean-going 
vessels are secure in the severest typhoons. The 
Pasig River will now admit all vessels, to a draught of 
eighteen feet. The total cost of the work has been 
about $5,000,000. Contracts for the construction of 
two large steel and concrete wharves have long since 
been let, and the work is progressing. One of these 
will be 600 by 70 feet and the other 650 by 110 feet. 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


25 


These piers will be covered with sheds, and will pos¬ 
sess trackage facilities for direct unloading into cars. 
Manila is now the only absolutely free port of the 
Orient, having neither tonnage, harbor, nor light dues, 
these having been abolished by the Commission under 
authority of Congress. 

Extensive improvements, involving about 81,000,000 
gold, are being undertaken in the harbors of Iloilo and 
Cebu. Many other ports throughout the islands have 
been improved, and general soundings and surveys 
have been made by the Coast and Geodetic Sur¬ 
vey. Light-houses to the number of 105 have been 
established at important points. Charts and notices 
are regularly distributed to mariners. In the giving 
of notice in regard to pending storms the Survey has 
been materially assisted by the Weather Bureau, one 
of the finest institutions of its kind, which has been in 
existence for more than fifty years. But little appre¬ 
hension is now felt by mariners in regard to typhoons, 
for their approach is invariably known from four to 
twenty-four hours in advance — much more often the 
latter period. It is interesting to note that notice of 
the great Hong-Kong typhoon in the latter part of 
1906 was sent from the distant Manila Weather Bu¬ 
reau in ample time to prevent any disaster. Had the 
native craft promptly sought shelter, it is very gener¬ 
ally believed that no disasters would have occurred. 

In line with the improvement of harbors the 
Government has let five-year contracts to various local 
steamship companies for Government service, mails, 


26 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


passengers, and freight. These commercial lines, 
maintained to a degree under Government supervi¬ 
sion, are provided with thoroughly modern standards 
of comfort and hygiene. Sixty of the important ports 
of call are regularly visited by thirteen different 
routes. Mails are despatched with rapidity throughout 
the Philippines. Delays in travel from port to port 
have become, for the most part, a feature of the past. 
There are post-offices in five hundred and fifty differ¬ 
ent towns. The people are making free use of the 
registry and money-order departments. The latter 
particularly has fulfilled a most valuable service. 
Many of the people are very thrifty, but hitherto have 
had no depository for their savings. Early after the 
establishment of the post-office system it became cus¬ 
tomary to take out money orders payable to “self.” 
The Government has now decided to establish postal 
savings banks, which will obviate the serious loss to 
the community caused by burying money in the earth 
or concealing it in the bamboo rafters of dwellings. 

A most useful measure authorized by act of the 
United States Congress is the establishment of an 
agricultural bank. The purpose of the bank is to 
promote the development of the rich resources of the 
islands, which is now greatly retarded by a lack of 
the necessary capital. As elsewhere noted, farmers 
are obliged to pay from twenty to a hundred per cent 
interest to obtain money to move their crops. The 
bill provides that the bank shall make loans only on 
agricultural lands and products; and in order to enlist 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


27 


the interest of capitalists in the undertaking the local 
Government is empowered to guarantee four per cent 
interest on the investment. The money covered by 
this guarantee is to be a first lien upon the bank’s 
resources, and real estate acquired by the bank under 
foreclosure is not to be retained by it for a longer 
period than ten years. 

Wire service has, naturally, developed more rapidly 
than the mails. There are 9340 miles of telegraph, 
telephone, aud cable lines extending to all civilized 
portions of the archipelago. The service, in which 
seventy-four per cent of the operatives are Filipinos, 
is most satisfactory. Much has been done in the 
building of good roads, an essential to material pros¬ 
perity. One of the first acts of the Philippine Com¬ 
mission was the appropriation of SI,000,000 for the 
construction of roads and bridges. In this work the 
military authorities lent aid. Each year has seen new 
appropriations for roads. The encouragement of the 
Insular Government has borne cumulative results, and 
many of the provincial governments and the cities 
throughout the archipelago are devoting great atten¬ 
tion to road-building. Quite recently an automobile 
is said to have made the 140-mile trip from Manila to 
Baguio, the famous mountain resort, in two days of 
easy travel, — a feat that would have been impossible 
a few years ago. 1 The good-roads movement in the 

1 The Manila Railroad Company is running bi-weekly specials, 
leaving Manila at 10 p.m., and connecting with an automobile stage , 
line at Dagupan for Baguio, “ the resort of pine trees and pine log 
fires.” 


28 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Philippines has a vast field before it. One can hardly 
conceive the atrocious condition of interior roads in 
the rainy season. The author recalls swimming with 
his horse on a road in the far interior. Many agri¬ 
cultural districts have been stimulated, and planters 
living back from the railroad stations or steamboat 
landings have now access to markets. Most of the 
sizable towns now possess excellent streets. 

Essentially contributory to material developments is 
the effort to improve the public health. Precautions 
with a view to the betterment of material conditions, 
such as draining miasmatic sloughs and swamps in 
cities; the securing of pure drinking water; the 
banns placed against possibly infected food, as, for 
instance, garden truck, have all worked wonders. 
Thousands of babies have been saved through pure 
water. Rigid quarantine provisions seem to have 
borne excellent results. Cholera, which spreads more 
rapidly than any other tropical disease, has been con¬ 
fined to the provinces in the immediate vicinity of 
Manila, and has not spread from Luzon to any 
other islands. In the Spanish era and in the early 
American occupation thousands periodically perished 
of this plague, which now yields a death list inferior 
to that of several commonplace diseases. 

The achievements in bettering municipal water sup¬ 
plies have been undertaken by an established bureau 
of expert engineers, chemists, and physicians. Many 
of the towns obtain their water from sources infected 
by sewage. Springs are not protected; wells are not 



GROUP OF AMERICAN AND NATIVE OFFICIALS 



“ PRINCIPALES,” SANTA CRUZ, MARINDUQUE 













PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


29 


covered; and even rain-water is allowed to become 
filled with the larvae of insects and thus becomes a 
source of contamination. It is asserted very often 
that the adult Filipino of the poorer class, is found, 
upon examination, to harbor in his intestines parasites 
dangerous to human health. “ The anemia which 
necessarily occurs when a person harbors such an 
array of parasites is certainly an important predis¬ 
posing cause for the high infant mortality, and for 
the low stature, poor physique, impaired vitality, low 
mentality, and lack of ambition so often seen among 
the poorer classes.” We would, however, apply this 
quotation chiefly to the city population. 

To-day the stranger need have no fear of disease, 
for he probably gets much purer water than were he 
in his home city. 

It is impossible to enumerate the activities of the 
American legislators in the Philippines; and the un¬ 
selfish, systematic, and thorough method of their labors 
has, we trust, been indicated. Excellent work, too, is 
being undertaken by Americans engaged in the various 
activities, who everywhere seem missionaries of prog¬ 
ress and exemplars of easier, better, cheaper, and 
healthier ways of doing things. 

Though the Philippines may hardly be said to be 
booming at the present time, — if indeed the term 
“ booming ” ever appropriately applies to industrial 
activities in the tropics, — yet the developments are 
far more common than is generally known. Indeed, 
there is hardly a district in the habitable Christian 


30 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


regions where the traveller will not learn of several 
Americans being engaged in farming, lumbering, min¬ 
ing, or some industrial pursuit. A number, too, are 
established in remote and unknown districts. There 
are also some large companies that are operating 
extensively. 

The individual Americans now engaged in agricul¬ 
ture, trade, and industrial enterprises are young men. 
Their numbers, as elsewhere observed, are composed 
almost exclusively of former Government employees, 
soldiers, and those who have been engaged in business 
in Manila. “ The majority of Government employees 
who have spent two or three years here and have 
returned to their homes in the States are only too 
anxious to come back; some are content to remain 
when their term of office has expired. Already they 
are growing up with the country.” We know of only 
one pioneer, in the Western sense, who has as yet 
gone to the Philippines. 

The extent to which Americans industrially engaged 
have penetrated remote portions of the Philippines is 
really surprising. On the east coast of Mindanao Is¬ 
land, a region practically unknown, where few Ameri¬ 
cans have ever gone unless sent on Government work, 
there are several Americans starting plantations. Of 
the fifty Americans in Davao, Southern Mindanao, some 
are already reaping the benefits of their industry. One 
plantation near the settlement is owned by four young 
Americans, two of whom remain constantly upon the 
property while the other two are contributing from 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


31 


their salaries earned elsewhere. The coming of Am¬ 
ericans and others with modern methods of agriculture, 
it is generally believed, constitutes perhaps the great¬ 
est benefit that could be conferred upon the people. 
We recall the case of a colored man, a graduate of 
Mr. Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute, who 
had served in the Forty-ninth U. S. Volunteers. He 
lives in the Cagayan Valley; is a practical blacksmith, 
horseshoer, and wagon-maker. He has done some¬ 
thing for himself in accumulating a good many pesos’ 
worth of wagons, horses, mules, carabao, and land, 
but he has done even more for his locality in edu¬ 
cating the people as to industrial methods. And this 
practical education is going on almost everywhere. 

It is indeed a most favorable commentary upon the 
opportunities of the country that almost all the wealth 
gained by individuals during Spanish days was not 
introduced from Europe, but came of native products. 
So it seems, too, in the case of leading Americans at 
the present time. The professions, for instance, are 
well represented. American lawyers, physicians, den¬ 
tists, and merchants are to be found in every direction 
successfully engaged. Yet if one were to select the 
well-to-do among the American population he would 
assuredly find that hardly one of them had wealth 
when he came to the islands. In fact the greater 
number of the physicians, dentists, merchants, import¬ 
ers, manufacturers, shippers, lumbermen, editors, and 
attorneys, many of whom are said to be worth more 
than 1100,000, was recruited from the volunteer army. 


32 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Several of the leaders of the Manila bar who are now 
wealthy men served their country as privates in the 
volunteers, while among the members of other profes¬ 
sions there are many who brought with them abso¬ 
lutely no other capital than industry and integrity. 
At this point it may be observed that here a high 
standard of integrity is general among the Americans, 
and indeed among all commercial and professional 
men of every race. In fact, we believe that the 
worthless element, the “ beach-combers ” who followed 
the army, have long since entirely departed from the 
commercial life; for it is so inter-related and sub¬ 
jected to such scrutiny among the comparatively 
small American population that it would be impos¬ 
sible for a man to bear a good reputation whose 
record has been unfavorable. The reader has natu¬ 
rally wondered whether the entrance of Americans 
has not prejudiced native concerns. In rare cases, 
we confess, this may have been the result; but as a 
whole the coming of the Americans has proven dis¬ 
tinctly beneficial; the exports, imports, and general 
business are much greater now than in the Spanish 
era (see Appendix), so that every one has the chance 
for a larger share of trade. Moreover, most of the 
American activities are those which direct the native 
industry into more profitable channels. The street¬ 
car systems, for instance, enable the population of 
Manila and suburbs to travel more rapidly and eco¬ 
nomically than before, while affording large employ¬ 
ment, and educating the natives as to industrial 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


83 


methods. Even the attorneys, who are often cited 
as a non-producing class, have exceedingly simplified 
the former expensive and tedious litigation. 

It is impracticable to enumerate the American ac¬ 
tivities ; but a few instances may prove of value. An 
important American bank has already gained a fair 
share of the banking business of the country. One 
large American company is making a success of trans¬ 
portation by water. A famous American football- 
player is now located at Cebu, and owns two 
inter-island steamers and an extensive merchan¬ 
dising business, which extends to all the southern 
islands. A number of large lumbering concerns are 
now carried on in different districts by Americans. 
These are acquiring considerable portions of the 
newly created business both for imported and do¬ 
mestic lumber. The largest private stationary and 
printing establishment in the country is in the hands 
of Americans. The second largest establishment in 
the world for the manufacture of cocoanut products 
has been organized wholly by American capital, and 
is making a great success. One of the largest import¬ 
ing and exporting wholesale corporations is under 
American management, and with American capital 
has already won the most formidable proportion of 
current trade. The Manila street railroads, run en¬ 
tirely by Americans, are constantly being extended 
to distant suburbs; recent bond issues for further 
developments have been announced in New York and 
The Hague. 


3 


34 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Among the foreign banks in the Philippines are 
the International Banking Corporation, the Spanish 
Bank, and the chartered Bank of India, Australia, 
and China. As a rule the banks in the Orient do an 
exchange rather than an industrial business. There 
are several large shipping concerns which are also 
engaged to some degree in the buying and production 
of hemp. As a whole, Spanish, Filipino, and Chinese 
capital controls the bulk of the commerce. But Amer¬ 
ican influence has contributed more to modern meth¬ 
ods than all others combined. Thus far only one 
large purely agricultural enterprise is being under¬ 
taken by Americans, — in the Cagayan Valley, Luzon, 
— though there are many Americans engaged in minor 
planting projects, aside from those occupied in civil 
work, teaching, and so on, who contribute to or devote 
a part of their time to some industrial work. Every 
one hopes to see many large and successful American 
plantations in the country. 

The civil authorities have received invaluable assis¬ 
tance from the American army. The peace works, 
such as the building of roads and bridges, the laying 
out of towns and cities, and the improvement of har¬ 
bors, constitute a field of activity that the military 
have occupied with good results. Thus far, the army 
has hardly received its just meed of praise, because it 
has done well what every one expected it would do 
well, although hardly in the line of its traditional ac¬ 
tivities ; and the new lines followed by other organi¬ 
zations have attracted much more attention, for the 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 


35 


reason that at first they were regarded as more or less 
experimental. The efforts of the commanders to use 
the army as a peace organization are certainly to be 
commended, and above all, the work of officers and 
men in filling with distinction the civil positions to 
which they have been detailed is worthy of record. 
In Mindanao and many other places, almost every 
field of human activity is filled by army men, who 
have shown a sympathy with the people that has dis¬ 
armed their suspicions. In the early days of the in¬ 
surrection, their indignation had been aroused to white 
heat by fantastic tales of the atrocious cruelty of the 
American soldier. 

Perhaps more than all other agencies have the news¬ 
papers aided in inducing a feeling of confidence in the 
future of the country, and in bringing together the va¬ 
rious races. In the latter result the native press, 
which is most capably issued, has been peculiarly in¬ 
strumental. There are two morning American dailies, 
44 The Manila American ” and “ The Cable News,” and 
one afternoon daily, “ The Manila Times.” 44 The 
Daily Commercial Bulletin,” a journal of wide indus¬ 
trial interest, issues in book form an annual edition of 
a most practical and thorough nature. 44 The Far 
Eastern Review,” is an interesting monthly trade 
magazine. A bit of enterprise is to be seen in 44 The 
Mindanao Daily Herald,” published at Zamboanga, 
Mindanao. There are twenty-two other daily and 
weekly journals, of which five are Spanish and two 
are vernacular dailies. 


36 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


We cannot speak too highly of the American press' 
in Manila nor of the character of the newspaper men 
there, who, amid amazing difficulties, have introduced 
the highest standard of American journalistic ideals 
into the Orient. Fearless and enterprising they not 
only devote a great deal of valuable space to the en¬ 
couragement of the industrial growth of the land, but 
they are the kindest and most understanding critics 
of the Filipino people. 

While the greatest wealth of the Philippines lies 
in agriculture, and while perhaps there are a hundred 
Americans therein engaged as against every one 
occupied in mining, yet a number of mining 
companies have introduced machinery representing 
a considerable expenditure and embracing both 
small stamp mills and the most improved type of 
gold dredger. 

One may hardly measure the opportunities for 
Americans in the Philippines, through the achievements 
of the comparatively small American population there 
at the present time. For generations the Spanish—and 
they are indeed a delightful people — have made great 
profits in agriculture and trade, and have amassed 
large fortunes by methods that to the average Ameri¬ 
can business man would appear dilatory, costly, ineffi¬ 
cient, and inconceivably crude for a civilized people. 
For years the Germans, Chinese, Filipinos, and some 
English firms have been successfully engaged in in¬ 
dustrial and commercial pursuits, despite the rumors 
of war, famine, and pestilence that formerly filled the 




IGORROTE WOMEN RAISING COTTON ON RICE TERRACES 









PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 87 

papers of Madrid, and that now often run their 
cycles through the American press. 

While many classes of merchants in Manila have 
not lately prospered, especially since the withdrawal 
of the large army forces, yet there is scarcely a well 
organized and intelligently directed concern that has 
not succeeded almost beyond the dreams of its project¬ 
ors. Then, too, one may hardly measure the prosper¬ 
ity of the people as a whole through statistics, since in 
many regions most of their business is conducted by 
barter. 

The question is often asked: Can a man maintain 
his health and vigor in the Philippines ? Yes, he can, 
if he pays attention to hygiene and the rules of right 
living. The Spanish have lived there for generations 
and have maintained their health and vigor. The 
question is, rather, whether an American is willing to 
live in the tropics at all. There are probably few le¬ 
gitimate enterprises in the United States in which a 
man can amass a fortune as rapidly with a small ex¬ 
penditure of money, energy, and brains, as he can in 
the Philippines. This expectation may seem vision¬ 
ary to those who have not travelled extensively in the 
provinces, but it is borne out by the success of various 
men; it requires but one qualification, and that 
is that one must be constitutionally able to live in 
the tropics, and that he does not succumb to the 
many temptations that beset the pioneer in his idle 
moments. 

The day is not far distant when many home-seekers 


38 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


from all lands will be drawn to the Philippines by 
the unequalled charm of the climate and surroundings, 
and by the opportunity for a happy, undisturbed exist¬ 
ence amid conditions wherein is assured a generous 
competence as the reward of ordinary diligence. To 
these we will say that the land affords certain conven¬ 
iences of living that are not to be had by persons in a 
similar station in the Occident. The most humble 
American finds himself able to live in a big, low- 
ceilinged dwelling, with numberless servants, all 
costing exceedingly little. One boy may bring 
him tea in the morning when he awakes; another 
will prepare the shower bath; while a third, who 
has properly whitened his boots, may assist him to 
dress. Another boy serves him at breakfast, and 
still another acts as cochero , or driver. If one lives 
in the provinces where labor is least expensive, there 
will always be a great number of nice boys and 
young men who will consider it a privilege to do 
odd jobs or regular work, so that they may attend 
the public schools. 

In a discussion of the commercial opportunities and 
developments of the Philippines, we should not lose 
sight of American ideals. The undertakings of the 
new era rise above and beyond the proportions of mere 
industrial projects. Only those enterprises imbued 
with a humanitarian spirit may succeed, and when 
seriously undertaken these become great sociological 
levers. Independent commercial influencer is perhaps 
most helpful; the wide distribution of honestly earned 


PHILIPPINE DEVELOPMENTS 39 

money among thousands of laborers would seem the 
greatest teacher of industry and self-reliance. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Report of the Philippine Commission for 1906, Act No. 1510 
of the Philippine Commission, relating in full to the building of 
the railways in Luzon; Act No. 1497 of the Philippine Com¬ 
mission, relating in full to the building of the railways on Negros, 
Cebu, and Panay. Copies of both these Acts, and also the 
report of the Philippine Commission may be obtained from the 
Bureau of Insular Affairs, Washington, D. C. 


CHAPTER III 

THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 

Outline of Topics: Native population of ancient Malayan 
origin — Exceptions, wild Indonesians and Negritos — Surprising 
number of different tongues and tribes — Negritos, the aboriginal 
dwarf blacks — Indonesians of Mindanao — Characteristics of Mes¬ 
tizos; their participation in the commerce of the islands — Trace 
of Japanese blood in Igorrotes; inherited dislike of Japanese in 
the islands — Filipinos a homogeneous people as to descent; no 
appareut physical differences between pagan Igorrote, Moham¬ 
medan Moro, and Christian Tagalog — The Christianized Filipinos, 
pagan Malays, Mohammedan Malays, and Christian Malays — The 
eight dominant civilized races and principal dialects — Strong trace 
of Hindu culture; civilization at period of Spanish conquest — 
Tagalog theatres — Mohammedan Malays; pagan Malays; spirit 
worship — The Igorrotes; their rice terraces and method of irri¬ 
gation — Distribution of various tribes and their peculiarities — 
Admixture of Spanish culture — Rapid advance when brought into 
contact with more civilized races — Religion among wild tribes; 
laws; morality; family and tribal relationships — The feudal sys¬ 
tem among the Moros; their market-places — Obliteration of tribal 
barriers — Bibliography. 

P ERHAPS in no region of equal area are there 
so many different spoken tongues as in the 
Philippines. A recent classification gives 
eighty-four different tribal names and thirty-seven 
dialects. When it is considered that a native who 
speaks but one of these dialects is usually unable to 
comprehend any one of the others, amazement in¬ 
creases. This is not, however, due to the presence 


THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 41 


of various races, since the native population of the 
Philippines, with but two minor exceptions, is of a 
common Malayan origin, and all the peoples speak 
languages belonging to one common stock; it is due 
chiefly to the lack of intercourse between the vari¬ 
ous tribes and the natural or acquired disinclination 
of the Filipino to move far from the place of his 
birth. 

“ Ethnologically no less than geographically the 
Philippines belong to the Malay Archipelago. With 
the exception of the aboriginal dwarf blacks, the 
Negritos, who are still found inhabiting the forest 
in a great number of localities, all the tribes of the 
islands, whether Christian, Mohammedan, or pagan, 
are, in my belief, derived from the Malayan race.” 1 
Perhaps the greatest departure, outside of the Ne¬ 
gritos, from the well-known Malay type is to be 
found in the case of those Indonesians who are to be 
found dwelling as pagan tribes in the heart of Min¬ 
danao. The above statement, however, must not 
be taken to be incorrect, since by many the tribes 
of interior Mindanao are not deemed to possess suffi¬ 
cient evidence of Caucasian blood to be classified as 
Indonesians. 2 

Generally speaking, the native inhabitants of the 
Philippines may be classified as Negritos, Indonesians, 

1 Dr. David P. Barrows, Census of the Philippines, Vol. I, 1905. 

2 According to the usual explanation, the Indonesians are a 
people of mixed Caucasian blood, who were in primitive times dis¬ 
tributed across the Malay Archipelago, and who find their purest 
living type in the Polynesians. 


42 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


whites, Chinese, half-bloods, and Malayans. The 
Negritos, numbering but 25,000 souls, are considered 
the true aborigines of the Philippines. They are 
a cowardly race of half-starved pygmy blacks, sub¬ 
sisting by the precarious fruits of the chase, and living 
without permanent abode in the mountain forests, 
where those of pure blood are but seldom seen. They 
are grouped under no less than twenty-one tribal 
names, and have many dialects. The so-called Indo¬ 
nesians, numbering over 250,000 individuals, distrib¬ 
uted among sixteen tribes, make up a considerable 
portion of the wild pagan tribes of Mindanao. Their 
predominant characteristics are their very consider¬ 
able height, great muscular development, high fore¬ 
head, aquiline nose, wavy hair, abundant beard, and 
light color. Of stalwart frame, they are readily 
tractable, and become most efficient workers under 
intelligent and sympathetic supervision. By far the 
most important class next to the whites, which in¬ 
cludes resident Americans and Europeans to a number 
not exceeding 10,000, are the Mestizos or half-bloods. 
In this classification is to be found much of the 
most progressive and intelligent population of the 
archipelago. Since the beginning of Spanish domi¬ 
nation the intermarriage between natives and Spanish 
lias been quite general, insomuch that there are thou¬ 
sands of natives throughout the islands, even in most 
remote sections, possessing a greater or less degree of 
Spanish blood. This population is largely of commer¬ 
cial bent, and inclines to the capital and larger towns 



NATIVE FILIPINO TYPES 

Igorrote pygmies in Interior Luzon — Igorrote warrior spear-casting 
— Igorrotes at work on the rice terraces, 

Nueva Viscaya Province 













































THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 43 


which have been reached by the commerce of Europe. 
An important commercial element is found in the 
Chinese Mestizos, who are actively engaged in mer¬ 
cantile and shipping enterprises throughout the 
islands. While not nearly so numerous as the Span¬ 
ish native population, they nevertheless constitute a 
most progressive industrial force. Of pure Chinese 
there are now considerably less than 50,000 in the 
Philippines, the number having perceptibly dimin¬ 
ished since the application of the Chinese Exclusion 
Act to the archipelago. In parts of the islands 
the physical resemblance of the natives to the 
Japanese type is greater than the normal resem¬ 
blance, which is frequently marked. Among the Ig- 
orrotes many tribes show markedly Japanese traits, 
which is believed to be due to an invasion of piratical 
Japanese in early times. It is an interesting fact 
that the Filipinos have a dislike to the Japanese, 
conceiving them to be a most barbarous people, — a 
conception quite at variance with that of recent vis¬ 
itors to the Flowery Kingdom. The idea grew out 
of the experiences of native Filipino priests who, 
early in the Spanish history of the islands, undertook 
missionary work in Japan. At that time the Jap¬ 
anese had not opened their country to the world. 
Many of the priests suffered torture and death at 
the hands of the Japanese; they were afterwards 
canonized, and the story of their martyrdom was de¬ 
picted in the books of the ecclesiastical schools. The 
circumstances thus became known throughout the 


44 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


archipelago, and resulted in a deep-rooted conviction 
which time has not obliterated. 

Though the blood of numerous nationalities has 
been introduced into the Philippines, it has not min¬ 
gled with the original stock in sufficient quantities 
to exert decisive influences upon the race. Like the 
Japanese, the Filipinos are a homogeneous people, 
able to trace their descent from a common stock; 
their principal characteristics are pronounced, and, 
once recognized, are unmistakable. Save their differ¬ 
ence in dress, it would be impossible to distinguish 
between a pagan Igorrote from the mountainous heart 
of Luzon, a Christian Tagalog of humble station of 
Manila, and a Mohammedan Moro of the Sulu Archi¬ 
pelago. There is also a strong resemblance, mentally 
and morally, between the various Malay tribes. The 
Filipinos differ from the Japanese in the division of 
the people into dialect-speaking races. 

As a whole the Philippine Malays may be classified 
under three great groups: pagan Malays, Mohamme¬ 
dan Malays or Moros (so called by the Spaniards for 
their religion, and for their dress, which resembles 
that of the Moors), and Christian Malays. Probably 
over ninety per cent of the Filipinos are Christians 
and profess the Catholic religion. 1 Of the nine domi¬ 
nant Malay tribes in the archipelago, all but one — 
the Moros, who are Moslem!tes—profess Christianity. 

1 As shown by the church registry in 1898, 6,559,998 souls were 
distributed among 746 regular parishes, 105 mission parishes, and 
116 missions, — a total of 967 parochial institutions. 























































THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 45 


The total population of the Philippine Archipelago 
on March 2, 1903, was, according to the census, 
7,035,426. This estimate is possibly considerably 
less than the actual numbers, especially since among 
the savage tribes new villages are constantly dis¬ 
covered which were not known to exist. Of this 
number 6,987,686 (embraced in eight Christian tribes 
and excepting the Moros, who, though partially civil¬ 
ized by reason of their wild religious belief, a 
perverted Mohammedanism, have been classified as 
wild) enjoyed a considerable degree of civilization, 
while the remainder, 647,740, consisted of “wild” 
people. 

The eight civilized tribes are as follows (the map, 
p. 44, shows the territory occupied by each tribe) : 


Name of tribe 

Bicol . . 
Cagayan 
Ilocano . . 

Pampangan 
Pangasin&n 
Tagdlog . 
Visayan 
Zambalan . 


Population 

566,365 

159,648 

803,942 

280,984 

343,686 

1,460,695 

3,219,030 

48,823 


Total 


6,883,173 


Of course, it will be noted that the total number of 
civilized people, 6,987,686, is necessarily greater than 
the civilized tribes, 6,883,173. 

The civilized people, with the exception of those of 
foreign birth, are practically all adherents of the Catho¬ 
lic Church. The census classes the Moros, population 












46 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


277,547, among the wild people. We should, how¬ 
ever, make a distinction between the Moros who have 
attained a considerable degree of Mohammedan cul¬ 
ture and the true wild people. The Moros embrace 
two-fifths of the population classed as wild, the re¬ 
maining three-fifths belonging to various tribes dif¬ 
fering from one another in degrees of barbarism. 

Among the Christian races the Tag&logs have at¬ 
tained the greatest degree of culture, and by reason of 
their residence for centuries in Manila and throughout 
the contiguous regions open to foreign trade, are the 
leading people of the Philippines. For the same 
reason they are probably the most mixed in descent. 
Manila Bay has from very ancient times been a resort 
of commercial fleets from all quarters. Chinese junks 
from Fukien were trading here as early as 1250, but 
the commercial beginnings of Manila long antedate 
that period. Hindu influence is more marked in the 
Tag&log than in any other of the Filipino dialects, 
unless it be that strong Sanskrit influence can be dis¬ 
covered also in the Moro dialects of Mindanao and 
Sulu. Humboldt observes that the Tag&logs pos¬ 
sessed a well-defined civilization at the time of the 
Spanish conquest of the archipelago. Their written 
language was perfected to such a degree that it ad¬ 
mitted of the writing and staging of plays, which are 
still conducted in that dialect. In this respect they 
were more advanced than the rest of the peoples of 
the archipelago, who in their writing were frequently 
confined to those curious syllabic scripts that were 


THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 47 


in possession of most of the tribes even before the 
coming of the Spaniards. 1 At the Spanish accession, 
however, the more civilized tribes adopted the Spanish 
alphabet, and to a great degree the written language 
in place of the Hindu script. The present Moros, 
however, early took up the Arabic letters, and by the 
time of the Spanish occupancy the Mohammedan 
terms dato and sultan had gradually replaced the 
Hindu title, raja. The time when the Hindu ex¬ 
tended his conquest to the Philippines can hardly 
yet be settled. Great Hindu monuments and temples 
still exist, in ruins, on the island of Java. They are 
believed to have been erected fourteen centuries ago. 

It is interesting to note the influences of various 
religious beliefs upon peoples of precisely the same 
race. The Moros, for instance, being Moslemites, 
are inspired with the glory of battle; and among the 
least civilized of them the killing of a Christian in 
battle is much desired, since the act, it is believed, 
will enable the warrior to go straight to the arms 
of Mahomet in Paradise. The Christian Filipinos, 
on the other hand, are extremely averse to violent 
crimes, and particularly to the shedding of human 
blood. The pagan Malays, the Jgorrotes, for instance, 
the wildest of whom believe in the simplest forms of 
spirit worship, are much given to superstitious rites 
and weird ceremonies that often involve the taking 

1 According to the Spanish author Retana, in his valuable “Cata- 
logo Abreviado de la Biblioteca Filipina,” published in Madrid in 
1898, written works have been published and in use in the archi¬ 
pelago in no less than twenty-seven different dialects. 


48 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


of the heads from their enemies in a neighboring vil¬ 
lage. As a rule, Igorrote tribes removed from the 
influence of civilized peoples are in a constant state 
of feud. 

The most colossal industrial undertaking in the 
Philippines, and perhaps the most stupendous task 
ever accomplished by a thoroughly savage people, is 
to be found in the marvellous Igorrote rice-terraces 
in the mountains of central and northern Luzon 
Island. Here the Igorrotes have built terraces for 
the growing of rice, like giant steps up the sides of 
steep mountain canyons to a height of three thousand 
feet or more. These terraces, each of which is flooded 
with water at certain periods of the year, are won¬ 
derful feats of engineering ; sometimes they follow 
the contour of a canyon for as great a distance as half 
a mile without varying two inches from the dead 
level. The summit of the retaining wall of each 
terrace is so constructed as to be about fifteen inches 
above water level, and at the time of flooding it is 
invariably found that the condition has been complied 
with. The Igorrotes are the most remarkable of all 
the pagan races of the Philippines. Perhaps no 
people, either savage or civilized, have ever further 
developed the art of intensive cultivation of the soil. 
None, as far as is now known, have so far progressed 
in methods of irrigation as have many Igorrote com¬ 
munities. In these regions the Igorrotes run the 
streamlet that has been deflected for the purposes 
of irrigation through a mass of manure, decayed 



THE MARVELLOUS IGORROTE RICE TERRACES 
























THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 49 


vegetable loam, ashes, and black alluvial soil; they 
then conduct it to the rice paddies. 1 Thus they fer¬ 
tilize and irrigate the soil in a single operation, since 
the water, thus enriched, carries with itself the fertil¬ 
izing elements and, by force of gravity, distributes 
them evenly wherever it comes in contact with the 
soil. In many respects this is a decided step in 
advance of the methods followed in civilized coun¬ 
tries, where the fertilizer, laboriously distributed over 
the soil, remains until it is unevenly washed about 
by the subsequent application of water. 

In some places the Igorrotes have circled moun¬ 
tains a thousand feet or more in height with succes¬ 
sive terraces, each terrace going completely around 
the mountain. 2 The finest terraces are located in 
Nueva Viscaya Province, in the heart of Luzon. 
They present an inspiring sight; viewed in connec¬ 
tion with the primitive condition of the people, there 
is nothing comparable to them in the world. The 
pyramid of Cheops, or the tallest “ skyscraper ” in 
New York, would appear insignificant beside these 
clear-cut, Herculean achievements of the simple, 
ancestor-worshipping Igorrote. Some may compare 
the Igorrote terraces to the terraces in Japan; 3 but 
neither in size, in perfection of workmanship, nor 

1 The flooded tops of the successive rice-terraces are so called. 

2 Often, too, these rice-terraces are not built up from the soil, 
but are carved out of the solid sandstone hillsides. 

8 Terraces are common in Java, and there are some in South 
America, but they present none of the stupendous phases of the 
Igorrote terraces. 


4 


50 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


in the almost insuperable obstacles that have been 
overcome, are the terraces of Nippon to be compared 
with those in the heart of Luzon. It is not neces¬ 
sary, of course, for the people of the fertile lowlands 
to undertake such great labors in the cultivation of 
their fields. The master workmen, the head-hunting 
Igorrotes who built these terraces, were perhaps a 
weak and timid people when driven to these moun¬ 
tains by the sea-going Malays generations ago, but 
to-day they are exceedingly vigorous, of great physi¬ 
cal strength and industry, and although actually jolly 
with foreigners they show a warlike disposition when 
engaged in a head-hunting feud with some rival tribe 
in their vicinity. The terraces yield rice so abun¬ 
dantly that in case a village is in a state of siege it is 
practically provisioned. 

The Igorrotes are the most numerous among those 
peoples of the Philippines which are commonly re¬ 
garded as wild. The census gives their number as 
183,000, 1 made up of many tribes. More recent in¬ 
vestigations, however, indicate that the population 
considerably exceeds the estimate. The Igorrotes, as 
well as the other pagan Malay tribes of the archipel¬ 
ago, are the descendants of the Malayan tribes which 
first invaded the Philippines from the south. A 
later migratory movement of the sea-going Malays 
forced the less cohesive and less civilized of the na¬ 
tives to the mountains of the interior, where their 
descendants remain to the present day. 

1 United States Bureau of the Census, published 1905. 


THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 51 


The remarkable development achieved by the Igor- 
rotes indicates that it is within the capabilities of the 
Malays to make a great industrial advance. That 
the Igorrotes, who are the least generally developed 
of all the Philippine Malays, 1 have executed such 
wonders of engineering, and practise more scientific 
methods of irrigation and fertilization than those of 
civilized countries, is due to the ability of the Malay 
race to meet almost any condition with which it has 
been confronted. In this respect the wild Malay 
differs from the American Indian, who is disappear¬ 
ing before the white man. Without these terraces 
the precipitous mountains would not support a large 
population. 

As may be assumed, the Filipino, whether Chris¬ 
tian or pagan, takes readily to the mechanical arts. 
Industrial schools have been established with success 
among both classes. Modern methods of trade, too, 
are being taken up readily among the less civilized of 
the population. In Mindanao the Government has 
undertaken the business education of the Moros 
through the establishment of market-places through¬ 
out the Moro province. Here the wild tribes bring 
forest products, which they sell for cash. The 
Moros, like other Malays, the born traders and bar¬ 
gainers, but the methods pursued have hitherto been 

1 In some respects the Igorrotes are much less advanced than 
were the Mound-builders of America, for their worship is among 
the most primitive known, and the terrace-building Igorrotes have 
no written system of communication, even lacking signs and sym¬ 
bols such as the Cave-dwellers possessed. 


52 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


greatly to the disadvantage of the less advanced na¬ 
tive hi Usman. The markets, conducted entirely by 
the natives, have proven a great success. During the 
first year of their establishment' they are said to have 
done a business exceeding $125,000. The wild 
Moros, who at first used coins in the making of crude 
jewelry are now learning the value of money through 
contact with more civilized peoples. Slavery, once 
general among them, is now rapidly dying out, and 
they promise to develop into a peace-loving, civilized, 
and industrious community. 

Many writers have incorrectly assumed that law 
and morality among the wild tribes are most lax. On 
the contrary, among many tribes, their observance is 
more rigid than in civilized communities. Among 
the pagan Igorrotes death is the penalty of adultery. 
Contracts are strictly interpreted with regard to their 
equity. An Igorrote who has purchased a sementara , 
or rice paddy, for forty hogs will not be obliged to 
make payment if there be a faulty title, though he 
may purchase a quitclaim for an amount decided by 
the tribal council. 

Among many of the pagan Malay tribes, which 
have had little or no communication with the more 
civilized Malays, there is a pronounced resemblance 
in savage rites. Many of the Igorrote tribes still 
practise head-hunting to a considerable degree, and 
are much given to wild war-dances and ceremonial 
feasts that incite to cruel and bloody acts. The 
Ibilao, an unadvanced Igorrote tribe, of Luzon, not 


IGORROTES AT WORK ON THEIR RICE TERRACES 






















THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 53 


only take the head of a vanquished enemy, but the 
hands and heart as well. The Ilongotes, another 
Igorrote tribe, are also absolute savages and head¬ 
hunters, each settlement of whom is in constant war¬ 
fare with neighboring unfriendly villages. They 
make it a condition to the marriage of a young war¬ 
rior that he shall have taken a head. Unlike the 
terrace-building tribes of the high mountains, the 
Ilongotes seldom live long in one locality, but move 
their villages from place to place. Among some of 
the pagan tribes of Mindanao human sacrifice, as 
well as head-hunting, is practised. The cruel but 
timid Etas of Mindanao sacrifice the life of a slave to 
their gods, which are vengeful deities or ancestral 
spirits. Of all the peoples of the Philippines the 
Negrito is the least amenable to civilization. Prob¬ 
ably he approaches nearer to primitive man than any 
other race. The strong and industrious Igorrotes 
are held by Dr. Pardo de Tavera, Philippine Commis¬ 
sioner, to be an element that will be of great benefi¬ 
cent influence in the ultimate development of the 
islands. Among them women hold a high position; 
the conception of an unmarried woman is practically 
unknown. 

Perhaps the only Philippine peoples among whom 
the position of woman is as low as with the American 
Indian are the Negritos and certain tribes of the 
Moros. In tribes of unmixed Negritos the women 
perform practically all the labor. Slavery and polyg¬ 
amy are not uncommon. Even among the civilized 


54 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Moros the position of woman is far beneath that of 
the rest of the tribes of the archipelago. When his 
finances permit, the Moro avails himself of the four 
wives permitted by the Koran. The Moro woman 
among the least civilized tribes performs a consider¬ 
able portion of the manual labor. 

Where wild tribes come into contact with the more 
civilized peoples, they rapidly assimilate with them 
and adopt their manners and customs. Thus, on the 
outposts of Spanish civilization the Igorrotes are 
Christians and exhibit more or less strongly the 
evidences of Spanish culture. It is possible that 
within the next decade or so the marked differences 
in speech, dress, customs, and manner of worship 
prevailing among the wild people, and strongly pro¬ 
nounced even in religions where the various tribes 
are separated by distances of but a few miles, will 
have disappeared. Under the protection of the Gov¬ 
ernment tribal wars are discouraged, and the native 
who for centuries has been afraid to leave his im¬ 
mediate village unless in company with an armed es¬ 
cort of his tribesmen, may now — except in a few 
remote and very inaccessible regions — wander freely 
through the country. With the stimulating touch of 
trade and intercourse the amazing present division 
of the Malay population into many peoples speaking 
many dialects, and some of them given to the most 
primitive tribal organizations, will rapidly disappear. 


THE PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 55 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A fascinating lot of books is available to those who wish to 
study the ethnology of the Philippines. Among them is “ The 
Bontoc Igorot,” by Albert Ernest Jenks, published by the 
Bureau of Ethnology, Manila; a finely published treatise on 
the Negrito from the same Department is also of value. “ A 
Social History of the Races of Mankind,” Featherman, London, 
1887 (account of native races of the Philippines, pages 468-504). 
“ Reisen in den Philippines,” F. Jagor, Berlin, 1873; trans¬ 
lated. “The Philippine Islands and their People,” Dean C. 
Worcester and Frank S. Bournes: New York, London, 1898. 
“ The Semi-Civilized Tribes of the Philippine Islands,” by O. C. 
Miller (American Academy of Social, etc., Science, Annals, Yol. 
18). “The Philippine Islands,” Ramdn Reyes Lala, New York, 
1899 (also of an historical, economical, and political nature). 


CHAPTER IV 

MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND 
HOUSES 

Outline of Topics: Church festivals and observances at for¬ 
mal social gatherings — Baptism; duties of godparents — Dancing 
— Bride’s dowry — The marrying age — Infant mortality — Neces¬ 
sity for more hygienic living — Prevalence of bathing and general 
cleanliness — Dress of women, and of men—The Filipino dwelling ; 
its construction and arrangement — Native food and manner of 
cooking — Domestic life — Bibliography. 

R ELIGIOUS observances constitute the lead¬ 
ing feature of most of the formal social 
- gatherings in the Philippines. As might 
naturally be assumed in the case of a people who 
give expression to their religious feelings by many 
outward manifestations and symbols, the three great 
events, birth, marriage, and death, are the preeminent 
occasions of pronounced religious as well as social 
celebration. Church festivals are always accompanied 
by music of some sort, either orchestral, brass band, 
or choir, and sometimes all of these. During the 
Spanish-American War a popular air much sung by 
the soldiers was a lively negro melody of the so-called 
ragtime type, “A Hot Time in the Old Town To¬ 
night.” It was not unusual in the provinces for this 
air to be played with much vivacity at funerals. This 


MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND HOUSES 57 

was not due to the unfeelingness of the people, as 
many supposed, but it was the only tune they had 
learned from the Americans. In the cathedrals of 
Manila and the larger cities the music excels in suita¬ 
bility to the occasion and also in rendition. 

In the Philippines a birth is regarded as an im¬ 
portant event, and the welfare of mother and child 
becomes the subject of much solicitude on the part of 
father and grandparents; but the christening of the 
babe, its entrance into the Holy Church, is considered 
of greater importance, and is performed with much 
solemnity. 

Baptism usually takes place a week or ten days 
after birth. The youngster is borne to the church 
by its mother or some near admiring relative, at the 
head of a long procession of the men and women of 
the community. In a provincial town of but 8,000 
inhabitants may be seen such a procession three city 
squares in length, the whole company walking sedately 
in double file and cleanly attired. At the church the 
parents Qparientes') and the prospective godparents 
assemble about the babe. The rite of baptism is sol¬ 
emnly observed. The holy water is sprinkled upon 
the little one, and prayers are said for its welfare. 
The pledge of the godparents is impressive. Its sig¬ 
nificance rises above that of a mere formal observance. 
It seems to be followed out in after life, for it is usual 
that children ever highly regard their godparents, and 
are by them cherished. Many children whose fathers 
are unable to afford them schooling are educated by 


58 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


their sponsors, who are often unrelated to them by 
blood ties. 

After the baptism there is usually a feast and some¬ 
times a dance (bail#). In the Philippines a dance 
is a social event to which the volatile nature of the 
people readily lends itself. Among the poorest as 
well as the well-to-do and wealthy classes the amuse¬ 
ment is frequent. Of the so-called round dances the 
waltz is the favorite; Filipino girls take to it as if by 
nature. The rigadon , a stately measure of Castilian 
origin, which in vivacity at times approaches the Vir¬ 
ginia reel (the measure varies with the music), and 
in dignified courtliness the minuet, is practised on 
formal occasions even in the remote provinces. Of 
late the two-step is beginning to be popular. The 
gallant Filipino blade and his dashing senorita take 
pleasure in the precise and dignified execution of the 
dance step. But dancing is by no means confined to 
the young people. The native matron will be flat¬ 
tered by your invitation, and whatever her age she 
glides easily over the floor. A roistering dance is 
unknown; though there may be an abandonment to 
the spirit of the music and to the rhythm of the meas¬ 
ure, there is always in reserve a certain simple and 
rather Catonian dignity of feature and action which 
to the Malay is inseparable from the dance, and is 
especially evident in every formal social gathering. 
There are a number of native dances, some of which 
are performed by a single girl only. In one the dan- 
seuse executes a pas seul as she chants a recital of 


MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND HOUSES 59 

despair, joy, passion, ecstasy, and surrender. She 
may kneel before the j T outh, who for the occasion is 
assumed to be her recalcitrant lover; she reproaches 
in a sentiment of melancholy arguing in a gentle 
monotone which grows to a crescendo as her spirit 
changes to denunciation; finally, she capitulates in a 
mood of elated passion, and the lovers are united. 
Sometimes there is a weirdness in these native dances, 
—an impression which increases when one goes among 
the wild tribes, as, for instance, among the Negritos, 
where a combined chant and dance, both solemn and 
stately, is performed in honor of the sun. 

The stranger in the provinces is amazed to see the 
ease with which the people glide in the dance in their 
chinelas , a kind of slipper, flat like a shoe with no 
heel, and just enough upper in front to put the toes 
inside. This is invariably worn in the distant prov¬ 
inces, where neither women nor men ever wear stock¬ 
ings. Even in the waltz rarely does the chinela slip 
from the maiden’s foot. When perchance it does, she 
glides around the floor in her bare feet, slipping it on 
deftly when the circuit is completed, without stopping 
in the dance. 

Filipino women are passionately fond of jewelry, 
and it is not rare that they possess ornaments of con¬ 
siderable value. Though cheap finery is sometimes 
worn, the taste of the majority is not in favor of the 
tawdry. Well-to-do men have gold watches that have 
been handed down from father to son. The Igorrotes, 
for instance, value gold and silver money, not as a 


60 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


medium of exchange, but to melt or hammer into ear¬ 
rings, bracelets, or charms. 

Marriage in the Philippines sometimes takes place 
at any early age; the bride may be but eleven years 
old and the groom but fourteen or fifteen. It is usual, 
and perhaps natural, for writers and travellers to 
assume that the Filipinos, being a tropical people, 
marry early. Yet the observation of residents and 
the testimony of the census do not confirm this belief. 
The number of girls under fifteen who are married is 
less than one in a thousand, while of young men the 
number is still smaller. The Filipino youth does not 
usually marry until he is able to provide a home. The 
marrying age in the Philippines is not much less than 
in the United States, and the proportion of married 
persons is about equal to that in this country. 1 

When a young couple have been pierced by Cupid’s 
dart, it is customary in the provinces for the pro¬ 
spective bridegroom or his parents to make a settle¬ 
ment upon his bride. If the young man has no 
dowry to offer, it is frequently stipulated that he 
shall serve on probation for an indefinite period in 
the house of his future bride, — as Jacob served 
Laban to make Rachel his wife, — and not a few 
drudge for years with this hope before them. John 
Foreman says: 

“ Sometimes, in order to secure service gratis, the 
elders of the young woman will suddenly dismiss 
the young man after a prolonged expectation, and 
1 Census of the Philippines, Washington, D. C., 1905. 


MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND HOUSES 61 

take another catipad , as he is called, on the same 
terms.” 

The period of service, however, does not now seem 
to be so frequently exacted as in Spanish times. When 
the young couple are married they do not make their 
home alone. Old or dependent relatives come into 
the family circle for life. Frequently it is some poor 
relation of the bride’s, whose claim may be but the 
remotest kinship. 

The advent of many babes is eagerly looked for¬ 
ward to by every Filipino woman. It is a measure 
of her love that she shall bring to her spouse a full 
quiver of sons and daughters. Unfortunately, how¬ 
ever, the mortality of very young infants is often 
exceedingly great, especially among the poorer city 
populations. The very ignorant seem to lack knowl¬ 
edge of the care of children, and often the little ones, 
stuffed with unripe fruit, bananas, and half-cooked 
rice, are swept into early graves. In Manila about 
three-fifths of all children under one year of age died 
during 1902. Isolation and quarantine regulations 
being practically unknown, the frail infants were 
unable to resist the ravages of cholera. The Govern¬ 
ment is doing much to educate the people as to more 
hygienic living, and the good results of this work are 
made exceedingly apparent through statistics of mor¬ 
tality. Such a proportion of deaths as that just men¬ 
tioned, however, is not common among the better 
nourished and cared-for children of the well-to-do 
in cities, nor of the isolated country population, who 


62 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


frequently rear large and healthy families. As a 
whole, the proportion of large families in the Philip¬ 
pines is, according to the census, about the same as in 
the United States. 

Toward the instruction of the people in a more 
hygienic way of living their natural liking for per¬ 
sonal cleanliness is an aid. It is the custom of the 
people wherever possible to bathe daily. Travelling 
through the interior, at every shallow ford crossed by 
the highway one sees the women giving the children 
the daily bath. The little brown bodies riot in the 
water, sinking themselves to their chins, splashing 
one another like small amphibians. Natives travel¬ 
ling, if no stream be near the road, will go far to 
bathe. Clean clothes are almost a sine qua non of 
Filipino life. In Manila, for instance, one will rarely 
see a soiled suit on any of the natives. To keep her 
family in this newly laundried condition requires con¬ 
stant attention on the part of the Filipino housewife. 
Indeed, one might almost say that the washing of 
clothes is as much a part of her daily duties as the 
cooking of food is to her American sister. The laun¬ 
dering is a simple operation. Generally very little 
soap is used. The family clothes are taken to the 
edge of a stream in the vicinity. The washer herself 
goes into the water, and with a resounding paddle 
deftly beats the garments into a condition of cleanli¬ 
ness. Everywhere, in the Philippines one sees hun¬ 
dreds of native women washing in the streams. 

The dress of the native woman is attractive. She 


MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND HOUSES 63 

wears a flowing skirt of gay colors, — bright red, 
green, check, and white, being favorite colors. The 
length of the skirt, and whether the material be cot¬ 
ton, silk, or satin, depend upon her means. Black 
veils are much affected by the well-to-do, and black 
garments are sometimes worn on sombre occasions, 
as funerals. Corsets are as yet unknown; a chemi¬ 
sette which just covers the bosom, and a starched 
neck-cloth ( panuelo ), are the usual mode. The 
pafiuelo presents the appearance of a great ruffle or 
collar in the seventeenth-century style. The gar¬ 
ment is square, but being folded triangularly it hangs 
in a point down the back, while the inside fold 
stands loose and high at the base of the head. The 
other two comers are gathered together at the breast 
by a brooch, meeting at the top of the chemisette. 
The sleeves are wide and flowing. Frequently the 
women wear embroidered garments, embroidery be¬ 
ing an art at which they are clever. The sewing- 
machine is coming into the islands, and the wives 
of savages of the forest are commencing to use it. 
Some tribes, however, as some of the Igorrotes, wear 
but little clothing. The Filipinos often weave their 
own garments of cotton and wool. They fashion 
exquisite fabrics of pina and jusi (pineapple leaf and 
hemp filaments), sometimes prettily combined with 
Chinese silks. Several years ago five thousand Fili¬ 
pino housewives manufactured on their own looms 
over a half-million dollars’ worth of fancy Sinama 3 's 
and other cloths for export. All in all, the dress of 


64 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

the native women sets them off singularly, revealing 
the shoulders and bust, which in the case of the 
Malay women are often exquisitely proportioned, and 
not emphasizing the hips, which to our notion are 
often somewhat narrow. 

The native men are gradually assuming the dress of 
the European in the tropics, — white drill, with coat 
buttoned up to the neck and finished off with a collar 
of the same material. Many of the natives still wear 
the old costume, the shirt of exquisite and richly 
tinted pineapple leaf fibre or other expensive na¬ 
tive fabric, which hangs loose over and outside the 
trousers. The older schoolboys are beginning to 
wear shoes and stockings; they carefully choose 
well-fitting garments, and in a short time after their 
conversion to Western apparel they assume a par¬ 
ticularly neat and somewhat dapper air. 1 Around 
the cities young men often affect the Derby hat, 
though the native Manila hats (fibre woven) are 
much more attractive and suitable. 

The house of the Filipino peasant and the poorer 
classes in the cities is unsubstantial when compared 
with American standards, but is as a rule more 
securely built than that of the average Japanese. 
The framework is fashioned entirely of bamboo, of 
which there are many varieties in the islands. Nails 
are unknown, the various joists and beams being 

1 American shoes, especially patent leather ones, are much es¬ 
teemed, although the appropriate white canvas shoe of the Spaniard 
is still much more common. 


MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND HOUSES 65 

lashed together with bejuco or rattan, a vine of as 
great strength as rope, and used by all the natives 
as a substitute therefor. The roof, and usually the 
walls, are thatched, the leaves of the nipa palm be¬ 
ing used frequently. Where this does not occur, the 
tall cogon grass or some other is adopted. To make 
a square joist the natives simply notch the bamboo 
and bend it toward the inverse side. The floors may 
be of hewn boards, but usually are made of small 
bamboo, large bamboo split in halves, or of thatch 
materials. Frequently there are great cracks in the 
floor, through which one may look down upon the 
ground beneath, for Filipino houses are always built 
several feet above the earth; in districts liable to 
inundation, or subject to heavy mists, the first story 
may be elevated a dozen feet. Native dwellings are 
cool in the day; frequently they are cold at night. 
The people sleep on the floor without a pillow, 
simply wrapping a blanket or a thin cloth about 
themselves. The extremes of temperature to which 
babes are submitted undoubtedly conduce to mortality 
among the poorer classes. Couches are built of bam¬ 
boo, whereon they rest during the heat of the day, 
for often the Filipino is up and at work before 
dawn. He will rest several hours during midday, 
and resuming his labors, will work until the black¬ 
ness of tropic night overtakes him. On moonlight 
nights the farmer frequently is in the fields. 

The Spanish, under their rule, never allowed the 
Filipinos to use knives and forks; consequently the 
6 


66 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Christianized Filipinos all eat with their fingers. 1 
The Igorrotes, however, of precisely the same blood, 
use knives, forks, and wooden spoons of their own 
manufacture. The staple food is rice and fish, but 
when the diet is varied with meats, laborers straight¬ 
way improve in energy and physique. Maize is a 
favorite article where rice is not much cultivated, as 
in the Cagayan Valley, whose people raise tobacco 
almost exclusively, the corn being planted on the 
same ground after the tobacco is harvested. Yams or 
camotes (sweet potatoes) are highly esteemed. The 
cooking is done usually on a little covered platform 
separated from the dwelling. There are no stoves, 
the fire being built on a large flat stone under an 
iron or earthenware dish. Rice is prepared in twenty 
minutes, but while the grains are made to separate in 
approved fashion, frequently the cereal has been only 
partially cooked. Chickens are often fricasseed or 
broiled, and young pigs are deliciously roasted on a 
spit. Nothing could be more appetizing than a shote 
that has been confined in a pen and fattened on rice 
and sweet potatoes. Fish are frequently cooked by 
the Filipinos in soup. Many of the natives cultivate 
their own chocolate, which they prepare deliciously, 
but in the preparation of coffee they are not expert. 
At meals the families of the poor seat themselves on 
the floor and eat out of a central dish. The American 

1 This refers, of course, to the poorer classes ; the well-to-do and 
wealthy Filipinos live well and often luxuriously, in the manner of 
the Spanish. 


MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND HOUSES 07 

who waits for his host to prepare a meal is often pro¬ 
voked at the delay consequent on the extreme num¬ 
ber of scrupulous washings that are given the food, 
especially if it be a meat dish, before placing it over 
the fire. Wild game, such as deer and boar, both of 
which are plentiful and secured by nets or dogs, are 
greatly esteemed. Salt, while liked, is not used in 
many sections on account of its scarcity. The lack 
of it gives rice an insipid taste. In some parts of the 
archipelago the people mine their own salt, and in 
others it is procured by the evaporation of sea water. 
There is a large salt mine in Nueva Viscaya Province. 

Sweetmeats for children, and for elders too, are sold 
everywhere. Every community has its lively market¬ 
place, where are displayed cakes and cookies of sugar, 
hard, brown, and brittle, and resembling maple-sugar 
cakes. Cheese, eggs, chickens, sweet potatoes, squash, 
rice, fish, meats, sections of sweet sugar-cane stalks 
as tidbits for children, and many fruits, are always 
greatly in evidence at the markets. Staple products, 
such as hemp, tobacco, cacao, etc., are often sold. 
In some distant provinces extensive agricultural fairs 
are held yearly, where are displayed an amazing num¬ 
ber of valuable products of the soil, many of them 
totally unknown to Americans. The great social 
instincts of the people lend to their weekly or semi¬ 
weekly market days the appearance of fdtes. The 
gayly dressed crowd, their animated chatter, their 
frank, friendly interest in the visitor and his comings 
and goings, the garrulous badinage of the old market 


68 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


women, put one in friendly relations with himself 
and the world. The Filipino invariably will put a 
great number of questions to the visitor: “ What is 
your business ? ” “ How old are you ? ” “ Where are 
you going?” The interrogations would seem to be¬ 
speak personal inquisitiveness. He takes such pains 
to be entertaining that you suspect he has some de¬ 
sign. But in reality he may expect never to see you 
again, he counts on no return for his courtesies or in¬ 
terest in you, and he would not be offended if you 
were similarly inquisitive concerning himself. 

Throughout the archipelago are many tiendas or 
stores, where various luxuries and necessities are dis¬ 
pensed. A purely native store consists merely of a 
shaded counter enclosed in a dwelling along the high¬ 
way. Even in these stores you will find frequently 
beer, pop, ginger ale, colored candies, preserved milk, 
ginger, betel nuts, and always cigars and cigarettes. 
In all of the larger towns and villages are general 
stores with a great variety of articles, some of 
them highly expensive luxuries. These are kept 
mostly by the Chinese, who are the traders of the 
Philippines. 

While one may not say that superstition is a Fili¬ 
pino trait, — the Filipino is too much given to stoi¬ 
cism for that, — he often accepts the slightest 
accidents as predestined; and some ideas which we 
might regard as superstitious prevail throughout the 
archipelago. A native hesitates to awake a sleeping 
person; he believes that the anito or spirit, which is 


FUNERAL ON ROMBLON ISLAND 

















■ 








- 






■ * 






. 





















MANNERS, CUSTOMS, DRESS, AND HOUSES 69 

away, may not return if the sleeper be thus rudely 
disturbed. Death is but prolonged sleep. Even in¬ 
telligent and wealthy Filipinos will hesitate to awake 
one taking his afternoon siesta. Of course, the intelli¬ 
gent are not deterred by superstition; among them the 
custom is ancient. Frequently among the wild tribes 
and those who are more or less associated with them 
sickness is believed to be due to the presence of evil 
spirits; and many strange rites are practised to ap¬ 
pease the malignant devils. Often enough it is the 
soul of some departed ancestor who has been slighted 
or has suffered a wrong. Death is accepted among 
all classes with strange resignation, but the period 
of mourning often is prolonged. In the Paco Ceme¬ 
tery in Manila, and elsewhere in the islands, it is not 
unusual for relatives or friends to keep fresh flowers 
on the graves of the dead for a number of years. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A thoroughly standard work is “ The Philippine Islands,” 
by John Foreman, New York and London, 1899. Published 
also by Kelley and Walsh, of Hong-Kong and Singapore. This 
voluminous book throws much light on native customs, habits, 
and superstitions, but the author’s views are generally not of a 
hopeful character, owing to his extreme bitterness toward 
the ecclesiastics. “ An American Cruiser in the Far East. 
Travels in the Philippine Islands,” John D. Ford, New York, 
1898. (t Psychologisches in der Philippine-Frage,” and other 
works by Ferdinand Bliimentritt, Berlin, 1899. “ A Visit to 

the Philippine Islands,” Sir John Bowring, London, 187G. 
Some excellent volumes, of which occasional chapters have been 
translated, were written by the Filipinos and Spanish in the 
Spanish and Latin tongues. 


CHAPTER V 


AMERICAN IDEALS AND SCHOOLS IN 
THE PHILIPPINES 

Outline of Topics : Ideals of American administrators exem* 
plified in the public-school system —Spanish system of education 

— Eager desire of Filipinos for education — Increase in the num¬ 
ber of schools and teachers — A morning in a primary school — 
Aptitude of the native children for learning languages, music, 
drawing, philosophy, mechanics, etc.—Native teachers — Indus¬ 
trial, mechanical, and domestic science schools — Value of the 
English language in bringing the people in touch with civilization 

— The newspapers as educational agencies — Bibliography. 

T HE American colonial government of the 
Philippines has been characterized by op¬ 
ponents of the present policy as the most 
fancifully Utopian and absolutely impossible known 
to history. Our way is an innovation. It was un¬ 
heard of that a mother country should extend and 
plan a general common-school education for the in¬ 
habitants of her colony that would afford as great 
opportunities to the poor as to the rich. Those who 
had watched the successful administration of Euro¬ 
pean colonies expressed the opinion that the adminis¬ 
tration of all alien people upon any other principles 
than those of exploitation or aggrandizement was 
doomed to failure. 


SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


71 


And yet when viewed as the bringer of peace, good 
feeling, and security to life and property; growth 
and development to the country; and the conviction 
to the subjugated people of the unselfish ideals of 
their conquerors, — our administration of the Philip¬ 
pines has surpassed that of Java under the Dutch, 
French Indo-China, British India, or any other Euro¬ 
pean colony in the Orient. 1 

The American public-school system in the Philip¬ 
pines, placing as it does the advantages of a common- 
school education within the reach of almost every 
native child in the islands, is at once the most force¬ 
ful and the clearest exemplification of the beneficent 
desires of the American administrators. It is in¬ 
ducing a spirit of democracy which did not exist in 
Spanish days. The child of the peasant, the humble 
tao or farmer, sits side by side with the son of the 
ilustrisimo , the ruling class to which from time im¬ 
memorial, — even long before Spanish acquisition, — 
the common people have bared and bowed the head. 

The people of the Philippines, as elsewhere stated, 
could read and write their own languages when the 
Spanish arrived. For generations observers have 
noticed the aptitude of the people for instruction. 
Thus, Mallet states that the children began very early 
to make their letters in the sand or on leaves; some 
of them, he goes on to say (he w'as writing in 1842), 

1 The long period of British rule in India has resulted in more 
extensive physical development, but, considering the time the 
United States have been in control in the Philippines, no nation 
has so rapidly proceeded in an Oriental colony. 


72 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

became distinguished calligraphers and could imitate 
all kinds of writing, drawing, and printed characters. 
Instruction among the people at that period was far 
from being backward when compared with that of the 
lower classes in Europe. Nearly all the Tagalogs, 
he observes, could read and write. 

“ Among them can be found advocates [lawyers] 
worthy to bo compared with the most celebrated in 
Spain. As to literature, there is a Tagal [i. e., Tagalog] 
grammar and a dictionary, and a combined grammar of 
other languages. The native literary works consist 
mostly of poems and tragedies in the Tagal language. 
The former are sometimes on very grave subjects, such 
as the Passion, and the tragedies are very long. There 
are also poems and songs of which both words and music 
are national; and the Indians \i. e., Filipinos ; the Span¬ 
ish formerly called them Indians] can write the music 
with wonderful ability. 

“ The military music of the garrison of Manila and 
the large towns of the provinces is carried to an aston¬ 
ishing degree of perfection, so that there is nothing bet¬ 
ter of the kind in Madrid. The Indians play from 
memory the overtures of Rossini and Meyerbeer.” 

Yet it was almost impossible, even then, for the child 
of the poor to obtain an education. There was, of 
course, no homogeneity, except that of belonging to 
a common race, among the people. 

There was no general system of primary instruc¬ 
tion until 1863, when the establishment of public 
schools in the municipalities, and of a normal school 
in Manila for the education of school-masters for 



THE SULTAN OF SULU 








































































































SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


73 


these schools, was authorized by royal decree ; but 
these schools differed from the American public 
school, since very few could take advantage of them. 
Before that date instruction was confined solely to 
the children of parents able to pay for it. Even 
then, according to the historian Semper, writing of 
it in 1869, “the number of natives who can read 
and write is tolerably large.” The organization of 
the public-school system was placed in the hands of 
the friars. “Excepting the professors of common 
and Roman law, all the chairs of the University of 
Santa Tom&s [University of Manila] are in the hands 
of the priests, who naturally arrange not only the 
theological lectures, but those upon metaphysics, 
physics, and logic, etc., as well, according to the 
principles of the Catholic Church. Every village has 
its public schools, but besides reading and writing only 
Christian doctrine and church music are taught.” 1 
To this profound religious instruction is undoubt¬ 
edly due the extreme Christian devotion and submis¬ 
siveness of the people; to its limitations is also 
to be ascribed their lack of progress in material 
lines. 

Not only was the material improvement of the 
poorer classes discouraged by the ecclesiastical author¬ 
ities, who virtually controlled the islands, but even 
the aspirations of wealthy and intelligent Filipinos 
were greatly hampered. On this point one of their 
own people, Sehor Tomas G. Del Rosario, says: 

1 Semper. 


74 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


“ Although the Spanish Government officially recog¬ 
nized the diplomas of the young men who had spent 
long years in study at the University [of Manila] and 
had graduated with the academic degree or as lawyers, 
physicians, pharmacists, etc., nevertheless these gradu¬ 
ates did not receive any official aid in their country, 
where at that time individual initiative was regarded 
as a symptom of insubordination or the beginning of 
future conspiracy.” 

This university in 1886-87 had an enrolment of 
1,982 students. Yet, despite the fact that popular 
education was seemingly flourishing almost a half- 
century ago, it was mostly a veneer, since measures 
of all kinds were adopted to keep the people in sub¬ 
jection. “ The monastic orders were always decidedly 
opposed to the Spanish language being spoken by the 
people, because their interests would have been greatly 
injured if such language had become general, as from 
that time they would have ceased to be the interme¬ 
diaries between the people and the authorities, which 
would reduce their great influence with both parties.” 1 
The system of popular education, being thus under¬ 
mined, was completely abandoned, and teaching gradu¬ 
ally passed into complete control of the ecclesiastics. 
Thus at the present time, despite the great ability of 
the people to acquire language, less than ten per cent 
of the population speak Spanish. 

Often Filipino parents or guardians make great 
sacrifices that their children may attend school. In 
1 Senor Tomris G. Del Rosario. 


SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


75 


remote regions it is not unusual for children of the very 
poorest classes to come into the village from their homes, 
seventy, eighty, or a hundred miles distant, to attend 
the nearest schools. Frequently it is a far journey, 
for means of transportation in the interior are often 
primitive. The separation usually lasts the entire 
term, and the scholar who is enabled to go home during 
the short Christmas vacation is fortunate indeed. 

Let us attend the morning session of an American 
primary school in the provinces. We notice at once 
that there are no vacant seats; that the children are 
clean and neat; are absorbed in their work, and those 
of a grade seem of nearly the same age. The Amer¬ 
ican or native instructor ( maestro ) takes pride in 
exhibiting his pupils. School opens with a prayer. 
Then, perhaps, for half an hour, come familiar Amer¬ 
ican songs, — “ My Country, ’T is of Thee,” “ The 
Star-Spangled Banner,” “Way Down upon the Su- 
wanee River,” — and some Filipino songs set to our 
music, and calculated to bring home to the children 
a love and appreciation of the islands as a whole. 
One is imbued with an enthusiasm not untouched by 
pathos at the sympathetic yet vigorous rendition of 
national and religious songs by the native children of 
this distant archipelago. Filipino children are not 
inclined to mischief or roistering. They become in¬ 
tensely interested in work that they comprehend. 
Often where white children are in the classes they 
are not younger than the native boys and girls. 

After music may come a class in geography. The 


76 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


children are skilful in the making of maps, by which 
they are taught not only the geography of the United 
States and of the world, but more particularly that 
of their own Philippines, the peoples, harbors, moun¬ 
tains, various agricultural districts, and especially the 
relation of the archipelago to the rest of the Orient; 
for while the Philippines have contributed to bring 
the nation of the United States out of itself and 
into the w’orld, our occupancy of the archipelago is, 
on the other hand, tending to bring the Filipinos out 
of the spirit of isolation in which, under the Spanish 
rule, they have always, to a great degree, remained. 

As each pupil arises to recite, his reply is carefully 
awaited by the others. Should he hesitate or answer 
incorrectly, a dozen little brown hands are instantly 
and eagerly raised. “ Ramon,” says the teacher, and 
with serious pride the youth arises to amend the reply 
of his fellow. Incidentally it may here be observed 
that all the civilized Filipinos have Spanish names. 
In the year 1844 Spanish names and surnames were 
given to the various families by the parish priests. 
“ Hence one meets natives bearing illustrious names,” 
says John Foreman, “such as Juan Salcedo, Juan de 
Austria, . . . and a great many Legaspis.” 

In speaking English, children who have learned only 
through their teacher, and are not in daily association 
with Americans, select their words carefully and with 
precision. Their pronunciation, though less incisive 
than that of natives of the United States, is surpris¬ 
ingly correct. Yet there is often a hesitancy, and a 


SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


77 


detachment of the words of a sentence. Filipinos who 
are constantly with Americans speak fluently without 
accent, and have as little apparent difficulty with long 
words as they do with those of Anglo-Saxon origin. 

Besides maps, the native children are apt in the 
making of models. Almost every school gives dur¬ 
ing the semester an exhibition of the pupils’ work. 
Models of boats, improved carabao (water buffalo) 
ploughs and harrows, models of the native style of 
vehicle, but patterned to be drawn with less friction 
and with broad-tired wheels that would not cut the 
roads into ruts, are shown. All in all, instruction 
even in the purely literary courses is of a practical 
nature; for the teachers, whose duties transcend 
those of mere pedagogues, realize the necessity of 
an industrial training. 

The people eagerly take to the American public- 
school system. During 1906 there were almost 
400,000 native pupils in the public schools, and 
the enrolment was beyond the capacity of the school- 
houses and the teaching force. Of more than fifty 
schools visited in the provinces by the writer, there 
was not a single one which was not crowded to its 
limits, and often many more children were enrolled 
than could be admitted. In some instances the diffi¬ 
culty was partially overcome by making the school 
day for each pupil only the morning or afternoon 
session. In the case of very young children the 
period was satisfactory and adequate. Of course 
there are a number of private schools throughout 


78 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the archipelago; several American firms employing 
large numbers of laborers provide schools for the 
children of their workmen. 

The object of the public schools in the Philippines 
is, of course, to educate and enlighten the mass of 
the people so that they may rise from that condition 
in which their ignorance almost invariably places 
them, of dependence if not of actual servitude to 
the more intelligent population; a situation which 
is often deplored by leading Filipinos. There are 
about 1,200,000 children of school age — e.g ., be¬ 
tween nine and fifteen years — in the islands. At 
an enrolment of 400>000 per annum every child would 
receive three years’ instruction in the public schools. 
At the start the school system was planned on this 
basis, and the work is being carried out on the 
schedule in a manner that exceeds all anticipations. 

In 1906 there were 831 American teachers, all told, 
in the islands ; of those appointed in that year only 
one resigned. There were, as well, 4,719 Filipino 
teachers. The salaries of American teachers ranged 
from $600 to $2,000 a year, as follows: — 


No. 

Received 

No. 

Received 

Teachers 

Yearly 

Teachers 

Yearly 

2 ... . 

. $600 

3 . . . 

. . $1260 

1 . . . . 

. 660 

57. . . 

. . 1300 

101 ... . 

. 900 

1 . . . 

. . 1320 

74 ... . 

. 1000 

3 . . . 

. . 1350 

1 . . . . 

. 1020 

72. . . 


3 . . . . 

. 1080 

50 . . . 

. . 1500 

57 ... . 

. 1100 

9 . . . 

. . 1600 

5 . . . . 

. 1140 

6 . . . 


340. .. . 

. 1200 

2 . . . 






















NATIVE BUILDINGS 

An Igorrote village —The home of the Sultan of Sulu 












SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


79 


The salaries of the native teachers were much less. 
At the end of 1906 there were in the Philippines 
3,160 school buildings. Many of these were built 
by the municipalities at their own expense; 374 of 
them are provided rent free. 

The average attendance in the public schools in 
the Philippines is, according to the census, seventy- 
three pupils to the teacher, as against thirty-six in the 
United States. The zeal with which the people took 
advantage of the public schools was no less marked 
than was their ability to grasp what was taught them. 
As early as 1902 forty-one per cent of the school 
children in Manila could use English, and throughout 
the archipelago at that time the difference in favor 
of Spanish over English was only six per cent. Fili¬ 
pino students progress steadily from the primary to 
the more advanced grades. The old theory that there 
is a point in his progress beyond which the intellect 
of a Filipino student will not carry him has certainly 
been disproved. It may be observed here not ^ap¬ 
propriately that of the first lot of one hundred Fili¬ 
pino youths sent to universities and other educational 
institutions in the United States not one failed of 
promotion at the end of the first year, although 
nearly all were deficient in knowledge of English. 

The readiness with which the Filipinos take to 
instruction is not a new development. In some dis¬ 
tricts they seem always to have had schools of a sort 
in which children were taught, in a rudimentary way, 
in the predominant native dialects. Even yet there 


80 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


are many of these schools, each under the direction of 
a native teacher, who perhaps comprehends neither 
English nor Spanish. There are still many convent 
schools and private institutions of learning in the 
archipelago. Of the total number of pupils in 1902 
17.8 per cent were in private schools, and 7.4 per cent 
in religious schools. The average attendance of pupils 
enrolled is about the same as in the United States. 

Although at first the public schools were started on 
a basis of purely literary training, the necessity for 
industrial teaching became apparent. Almost all the 
schools now emphasize this feature. Kindergarten 
work, domestic science, — in which young women are 
taught modern cooking and ail branches of household 
work, and are provided with an object lesson in a 
model dwelling that combines Filipino and American 
arrangements,—and boys’ industrial schools or classes, 
are frequently adjuncts of the public school in the 
Philippines. A number of purely industrial and 
mechanical schools have been inaugurated through¬ 
out the archipelago. At the Boys’ Agricultural 
Institute in Tuguegarao, Luzon, an adjunct of the 
provincial high school, more than half the boys chose 
the agricultural course; the size of the class was 
restricted only by the equipment and the teaching 
force. In a consideration of the fact that the demand 
for schools has steadily been in advance of their in¬ 
crease in capacity, it must be borne in mind that all 
the schools in the islands are supported by the people 
themselves. The schools receive no outside support, 


SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


81 


but are maintained by the insular government, by the 
various provincial governments (which correspond in 
a way to our State governments), and by the munici¬ 
palities or cities. Often small communities vie with 
one another in the erection or donation of buildings. 
At Banaue, in the heart of Luzon, the Igorrotes hewed 
out materials for school buildings with their bolos. 
They erected a commodious building, in which a lone 
school-teacher instructs their children in perfect se¬ 
curity amid a population of 8,000 “ head-hunters.” 
Filipino teachers sometimes volunteer their services 
gratis, and some are on the payrolls for one dollar a 
month. The summer normal school institutes through¬ 
out the archipelago are always well attended. 

The American army had hardly occupied the Phi¬ 
lippines when its officers set about the establishment 
of the American public-school system. September 1, 
1898, immediately after the American occupation, 
seven schools were organized in Manila. On June 
12, 1899, Mr. George P. Anderson, a volunteer offi¬ 
cer and graduate of Yale, became Superintendent of 
Schools. Thirty-nine schools were opened with an 
enrolment of 8,742. By June 30, 1900, there were 
twenty-four American and many native teachers, and 
an average daily attendance of 4,500. The primary 
reason for the rapid introduction of common schools 
was the conviction of the military leaders that no 
measure would so quickly restore tranquillity through¬ 
out the archipelago. The response of the Filipino 
people to this innovation was immediate. Those 


82 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


who had expressed the fear that common schools, if 
disassociated from ecclesiastical management, would 
not be acceptable, found themselves agreeably dis¬ 
appointed. Many of the parochial schools still have 
continued. The effect has been to increase the 
number of pupils. Where in a small and distant 
community there would, perhaps, in Spanish days, 
have been an attendance of from twelve to thirty 
pupils at the most, now almost every child of school 
age attends, and instead of the former slight enrol¬ 
ment, these country schools will have from eighty to 
two hundred scholars. Every day the extension of 
the public-school system goes on. As rapidly as the 
native teachers become proficient, they are placed in 
charge of instruction, while the work of Americans in 
the provinces is being more and more given to super¬ 
intendence, the organization and establishment of new 
school districts, the encouragement of the people to 
build new school edifices, and the overseeing and 
encouragement of the conscientious native teachers. 
Many American teachers have been withdrawn from 
the primary work to the secondary schools, toward 
which an army of native children is being graduated. 
Hundreds of municipalities are building schools, and 
teachers are rapidly being supplied to them. In some 
districts the demands on the American teachers have 
been so great that they have been compelled to forego 
class work. Three years ago Governor Juan Pimontel 
of Ambos Camarines Province, a Filipino gentleman 
who had risen by his own effort from extreme poverty 




CHILDREN OF THE PHILIPPINES 

Native students, island of Bohol — Bicol school¬ 
girls— Children bathing in the 
Cagayan River 



















SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


83 


and ignorance to great wealth and a most polished 
cosmopolitan education, thus wrote the school author¬ 
ities in Manila: “ The people have been friendly . . . 
and have supported the public schools well. There 
are no stronger Americanistas than those school chil¬ 
dren who have come within the sphere of the personal 
influence of the American teachers. Such converts to 
American ways and ideas are seldom if ever lost. For 
the present and future welfare of the people of this 
province, I trust that the entire complement of Amer¬ 
ican primary teachers may be made up.” 

Mr. Prescott F. Jernegan, of the Manila Normal 
School, says: — 

“The work of the teacher cannot be understood un¬ 
less he is thought of as discharging the many-sided 
functions, other than religious, formerly the prerogative 
of the Spanish friar. Socially, and in his intellectual 
influence, he is the successor of the man who for cen¬ 
turies was the controlling influence in these primitive 
communities of the Philippines. He has been the quiet 
mediator of modern ideas. He has won the affection 
and respect of the Filipino people. He has fulfilled a 
great variety of functions of the utmost advantage in 
securing the loyalty of the inhabitants to the sover¬ 
eignty of the United States, and implanting the ideals 
of Western civilization among them.” 

The teacher tells the mother how to care for her 
ailing baby, aids unjustly oppressed parents to secure 
justice; impresses upon the people that they should 
drink pure water and isolate their sick in cases of 
infectious disease; shows the municipal authorities 


84 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

how to lay out city streets ancl provide for the proper 
drainage of them; encourages the people to plant 
vegetable gardens and to build roads, fences, and 
bridges. In some cases the American “ school- 
ma’am ” has paid the salaries of her Filipino teachers 
when the municipal treasury was empty, and has sent 
them to the vacation normal institution, paying their 
expenses. American teachers have written plays, 
fought bandits, and organized boys’ brigades. All 
in all, the position of our teachers is one of tremen¬ 
dous and singular responsibility; these and other 
Americans are setting the standard to perhaps the 
most imitative and adaptable people in the world. 
It is often said that one is able to tell something 
of the character of the American school-teacher and 
constabulary officers in the remote towns by closely 
observing the people. 

Perhaps no teachers in the world are more beloved 
by their little pupils than are those in the Philip¬ 
pines. After school hours the home of the maestro 
is filled with children and their parents. The former 
on the approach of a stranger, if they are not accus¬ 
tomed to Americans, become quite shy and will hang 
reluctantly about the door, until finally their ‘‘dear 
teacher ” urges them to come in and become better 
acquainted with her friends. Respect to elders is 
inculcated by all Filipino parents. 

The success of the public schools has far surpassed 
the most sanguine hopes. In a few years in the archi¬ 
pelago there will be a mighty army of English-speaking 


SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


85 


native young men and women. The proportion of 
those under the influence of the classroom is about 
one to every fourteen of the entire population. 1 Even 
now your school-boy of Manila, if he go to a town 
a hundred miles north, will talk to the school-boy 
there in English. With the speaking of English 
comes the adoption of civilization, as we know it, 
the reading of American daily newspapers, of which 
there are a number in the islands, and of American 
magazines. Thus the people read and learn about 
railroads, steam-ploughs, harrows, windmills, irrigat¬ 
ing plants, shoes, and hosts of other things which 
they are gradually coming to desire and, in many 
more instances than is generally believed, to adopt. 
For the mission of the United States in the Philip¬ 
pines is believed by our administrators to be to teach 
the young Filipino to walk on his own feet, and to 
lead him toward industrial and political independence. 
When within a few years the islands shall be tra¬ 
versed by the great railroad systems now building, 
the inhabitants of the various provinces will be as¬ 
sisted in commercial and social intercourse through 
the existence of a common tongue. 

Opponents of English education find no sympathiz¬ 
ers among the Filipino people. The advantage which 
the possession of the English language will give him is 

1 That is, in any one year, although during the period of com¬ 
mon school age, — six to fifteen years, — all children in the islands 
should receive schooling. The total enrolment of all Philippine 
schools, according to the Report of the Philippine Commission, for 
1905, is over 500,000. 


86 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


readily understood by the Filipino; it is fortunate that 
the acquisition of Spanish was largely denied him. 

“ English is the common language of business and 
social intercourse between the different nations from 
America westward to the Levant. English is the lingua 
franca of the Far East. It is spoken in the ports from 
Hongkong to Australia. It is, without rival, the most 
useful language which a man can know; and to the Fili¬ 
pino the possession of English is the gateway into the 
busy and fervid life of commerce, of modern science, 
diplomacy, and politics in which he aspires to shine. If 
we can give the Filipino husbandman a knowledge of 
the English language, and even the most elementary 
acquaintance with English writings, we shall free him 
from that degraded dependence upon the man of influence 
of his own race which made possible insurrection.” 1 

The average American is usually of the impression 
that before the coming of the Spanish the Filipinos 
were savages. They were far from that. Though 
they improved to a remarkable degree through the 
marvellous success with which the devout monks of 
Spain established Christianity, yet they have always 
been a people comparable to the Japanese and Chinese, 
and possess the same ability to grasp the essentials of 
our civilization. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

“ Six annees de voyages aux Philippines,” by Alfred Marche, 
Paris, 1887; “ Education in the Philippines during Spanish 
Domination,” by Robert L. Packard; Report of Commission 


1 Dr. David P. Barrows. 


SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES 


87 


of Education of United States for 1897-1898; “Reisen in den 
Philippines,” by Jagor, Berlin, 1873. A series of interesting 
bulletins have been published by the Bureau of Education of 
the Philippines and issued from the Bureau of Public Printing, 
Manila. Some of these monographs issued as text-books for 
the schools imply a high degree of intelligence in the pupils 
who study them. One of these entitled “ Lessons on Familiar 
Philippine Animals,” while most readable, is also extremely val¬ 
uable from a scientific and industrial standpoint. Many other 
valuable publications have been issued from the Government 
press. 


CHAPTER VI 

FILIPINO TRAITS 


Outline of Topics : Extreme hospitality of all classes — Traits of 
gente ilustrada and lower classes — Love of music — Religious de¬ 
votion — Precocity — Petty crime — “ Little white lies ” — Love of 
family and of the aged — Simple pleasures — Personal dignity — 
Loyalty — Indolence — Estimate by Filipinos of their own people 
— Bibliography. 



ERHAPS the first impression which is pleas¬ 
antly brought home to the traveller in the 


Philippines is the extreme hospitality of the 
people. Whether they be rich or poor they ever 
welcome the visitor. The humblest peasant will 
kill his last fowl, perhaps his prized gallo , — fighting 
cock, — for the unknown wayfarer who comes un¬ 
heralded to his abode at nightfall. “ My house is 
your home, Seiior,” says your host; and forthwith he 
scours the community, borrowing chickens, glasses, 
and cups for the ensuing feast. The trait is innate 
in the Filipino character. It is not displayed toward 
the “ distinguished ” foreigner alone. “When a na¬ 
tive travels he drops in amongst any group of his 
fellow-countrymen whom he finds having their meal 
on the roadside.” 1 No one ever need want for food 
and lodging in the Philippines; doubtless one could 
1 John Foreman, in “ The Philippine Islands.” 


FILIPINO TRAITS 


89 


travel from one end of the archipelago to the other 
without a peso in his pocket. Hospitality is the first 
public virtue in a Filipino community; of domestic 
characteristics, love to family and parents is perhaps 
the first impression received. 

First impressions are not always lasting. Espe¬ 
cially is this the case with regard to an Oriental race 
like the Filipinos, whom many well-grounded writers 
have solemnly affirmed to be incomprehensible to the 
white race. But all writers unite in extolling the 
extreme hospitality and courtesy of this people. It 
is no less evident to the newcomer than to the life¬ 
long resident; upon the latter, however, the surpris¬ 
ing adaptability and imitativeness of this race with 
whom he has been brought into daily association have 
made a yet deeper impression. 

There are in the Philippines two distinct social 
grades, the gente ilustrada , which is the cultivated 
class, and the gente baja or subordinate class. Be¬ 
cause its members have wealth, live in handsome 
houses, and have received some Spanish education, 
the gente ilustrada is the dominant class. They are 
commonly represented as being the true type of the 
Filipinos. Yet in a village of ten thousand people 
there may not be more than a score of families, 
usually closely inter-related, belonging to the “ illus¬ 
trious’’ class. “This upper class is very ambitious, 
.— ambitious for education, ambitious for participa¬ 
tion in the political affairs of the islands.” 1 They 
1 Dr. David P. Barrows. 


90 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


control, economically and socially, the rest of the 
population who have no wealth, and who, until the 
introduction of the American public-school system, 
had received little or no education. The upper ele¬ 
ment is active, intelligent, and fairly persevering. 
It compares favorably with any civilized population. 
But it is not greatly concerned with the condition of 
the common people. The uneducated are passive, 
unambitious, and obedient. Though the ruling class 
represent the Filipinos as a people, yet they are so 
obviously in the minority that any description of 
Filipino traits must be confined to the traits of the 
masses, who, until the present, have not come into 
contact with civilization. 

Almost every civilized custom which the Filipinos 
to-day possess they have adopted from the Spanish. 
Their music, which they love with a passionate devo¬ 
tion, and in the practice of which they display re¬ 
markable technique and a sympathetic understanding, 
they, of course, learned from the Spanish. The wild 
tribes have but little comprehension of melody; but 
there is scarcely a civilized village in the Philippines 
which does not possess its band or orchestra, which 
usually performs in a manner that would arouse 
admiration in any country. Frequently a musician, 
after playing from the notes once or twice, will have 
no further need for them, but will perform his part 
in the orchestra, playing in perfect harmony entirely 
by ear, so pronounced is his native talent. The Fili¬ 
pino Constabulary Band, indeed, took second prize at 


FILIPINO TRAITS 


91 


the St. Louis World’s Fair, being excelled only, in 
the estimation of the judges, by Sousa’s Band, an 
aggregation of the most competent musicians that 
could be gathered, and which for years has been 
schooled under the most superior direction. 

Their religion the people were taught by the Span¬ 
ish padres, Augustinian, Franciscan, Dominican, and 
Recoleto, who penetrated the archipelago. They em¬ 
braced it with loving zeal. To-day there are in the 
Philippines almost two thousand churches and cathe¬ 
drals, capable of accommodating one-fourth of the 
Christian population at one time. When it is con¬ 
sidered that these edifices, many of them of magnifi¬ 
cent proportions and practically all of them excellent 
embodiments of the architecture of the Spanish re¬ 
naissance, were constructed entirely by these simple 
people at their own expense, and under direction of 
native and Spanish priests, the unselfish and passion¬ 
ate devotion of the Filipinos to their religion, and 
their ability to appreciate the most aesthetic religious 
ceremonies of civilized nations, must remain unques¬ 
tioned. More than that, the Filipinos go to church, 
and they live up to their enlightenment. 

It was the policy of the Spanish not to permit the 
people to advance too rapidly, lest they might be the 
less easily directed. For this reason they were taught 
to read, but not encouraged to learn to write; insomuch 
that in 1902, forty-four and one-half per cent of the 
population over ten years of age could read some 
dialect or language, but only twenty per cent could 


92 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


write. Thus it is that in some of the customs of 
civilization the Filipinos are advanced, and in the 
adoption of others they have remained far behind. 
It is impossible to say to what extent the Filipinos 
may not progress, because for the first time they are 
brought face to face with an industrial civilization 
which permits a rounded development socially, men¬ 
tally, morally, and physically. 

Filipino children are extremely precocious. It is 
the opinion of many school-teachers in the islands 
that they learn much more rapidly up to the ages of 
fourteen to eighteen than in succeeding years. They 
are exceptionally clever at memorizing, and in the 
languages, but not apt in mathematics, or in exercises 
that call for reasoning or deductive faculties. They 
may learn to conduct their simple conversations in 
English in from six months to a year. It is not un¬ 
usual for native school children of eight or ten years to 
be the only persons in a remote barrio (suburb) who 
can intelligently direct the traveller. School children 
almost invariably improve in dress. The boys take 
to the European dress of the tropics, while the girls 
cling to the chemisa , the attractive looped and open 
garment of the Spanish women. The older boys and 
girls of the well-to-do class wear shoes and stockings. 

The Filipinos as a race are not disposed toward 
vicious crimes. The unmentionable assault is scarcely 
known among them. Their common crimes are of a 
petty nature, — pilfering and the like. The number 
of criminals in confinement in the Philippines on 


FILIPINO TRAITS 


93 


December 31, 1902, was less than eight in each ten 
thousand of the population. In the United States in 
1890 there were thirteen confined criminals to a similar 
population. Considering the unsettled condition of 
affairs in the islands during the six years prior to the 
census, the showing is not only favorable, but re¬ 
markable. Many of the causes were traceable to the 
ravages of the war, and the poverty and theft which 
followed. 

Pauperism is almost unknown in the islands. The 
professional beggars of India and Italy are not found 
among the native population. Perhaps this may be 
due, in part, to the extreme bounty of nature, and, 
in part, to the generosity of the people toward in¬ 
digent relatives. According to the census the pro¬ 
portion of paupers was less than one in each ten 
thousand of the population. For a similar population 
in the United States it was twelve. 

Veracity is not a conspicuous trait of the people. 
The Filipino is disposed to conceal his real feelings 
when they would be offensive to the person whom he 
is addressing. Often even among the well-to-do 
classes there is a euphemistic way of avoiding the 
unpleasant truths which might cause annoyances. 
Indeed, the tendency to equivocate arises as often 
from the desire to please as from any intention to 
evade responsibility for an act committed. An Occi¬ 
dental who is accustomed to dealing with the Fili¬ 
pinos will have no difficulty in comprehending them. 
“They are an Oriental people, and the Oriental 


94 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


believes in saying to the person to whom he is talking 
what he thinks that person would like to hear. That 
is the tendency of the race You graft on to that the 
Spanish tendency to superlatives, and a Filipino will 
talk to you in such language that if you do not weigh 
it in the light of this trait you are quite certain to 
misunderstand him and be misled by what he says. 
He thinks you will construe what he says through 
that medium.” 1 

It must be remembered that the teachings of the 
Spanish padres put no premium on veracity, nor em¬ 
phasized the presentation of facts in their relative 
natural proportions. “ Such has been the reign of 
injustice and blind force under which they have lived 
[for three centuries] that deception was their only 
defence against merciless oppression.” 2 The Fili¬ 
pinos have taken from the white race that which 
they have been taught. “ By and by you will suc¬ 
ceed,” said Angel Fabi, himself a Filipino and cap¬ 
tain of the port of Mindoro Island under Aguinaldo, 
“ and the Filipinos will become more American than 
the Americans.” Another observer at the beginning 
of the American occupation well said: “ If the Fili¬ 
pinos had associated with them throughout the archi¬ 
pelago a sufficient number of Americans who are 
honorable and upright in their dealings, there would 
be a very strong tendency on the part of the Fili¬ 
pinos to do as their colleagues do. They are natural 

1 Wm. H. Taft. 

2 Rev. Homer C. Stuntz. 


FILIPINO TPAITS 


95 


imitators; it is a racial characteristic. If they saw 
their American colleagues were not just in their ad¬ 
ministration, nor entirely honest, there would be a 
tendency to follow in their footsteps.” The success¬ 
ful Filipino merchant, however, is scrupulously honest 
in his business dealings. 

The family life of the Filipinos has many beautiful 
traits to commend it. There is always room, and — 
more than that — genuine welcome, in the home for 
poor or dependent relatives. Even the drones are 
supported in the family hive without cavil. In al¬ 
most every home except the poorest there is some 
sort of musical instrument. Frequently in the homes 
of the well-to-do and wealthy you will find the piano 
or the harp, to the playing of which all members of 
the family are accustomed. As in most Oriental 
countries, old age is held in veneration. The father 
is the acknowledged head of the household. When a 
daughter marries, she passes from the authority of 
her parents to that of her husband. Yet Filipino 
women have a degree of liberty perhaps equalling 
that of women in America. In popular esteem the 
women of the common people hold a position above 
that of their sisters of Japan. The Filipino woman 
is more saving and industrious than her helpmeet. 
The direction of the household is always in her hands, 
and frequently the entire earnings of her husband are 
turned over to her. Business negotiations are seldom 
transacted without her concurrence. The Filipino 
makes an excellent husband and father. He is jealous 


96 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


of the honor of his wife, but, singularly enough, is 
indifferent to the indiscretions of his daughter, or 
of his wife before marriage. All Filipinos love the 
children, who are docile and well behaved. 

The life in the Filipino home of the well-to-do class 
has many attractions for the European or American. 
With a usually full quiver of sons and daughters 
who are given to music and merrymaking, there is 
ever sparkle to lend diversion to the more sober con¬ 
versation of the adults. Of visitors there are always 
many. If a stranger drops into the village, it is cus¬ 
tomary to regard him more or less as the guest of the 
community. One will rarely sit down to the gener¬ 
ous board without the presence of neighbors who 
have been invited to assist in entertaining. Even 
among the poor peasants this is customary. 

Most of the pleasures of the people are of a so¬ 
cial and innocent nature. Music, weddings, dances, 
church festivals and solemnities, the assemblage at 
the market-place, constitute their main diversions. 
Gambling, though usually of a petty character, is 
perhaps the chief vice of the people. The Filipino 
will risk his last penny on a cock fight or a horse 
race. Why not? He is a philosopher. With the 
prodigality of nature his few wants will easily be 
satisfied. Cock-fighting is not an indigenous vice. 
It was introduced into the Philippines from Mexico, 
whither it had been brought from Spain. 

A wedding is an affair of great social consequence 
in a Filipino community. Frequently the bride is 



FILIPINA WOMEN OF THE BETTER CLASS 






















FILIPINO TRAITS 


9T 


but twelve or fourteen years of age and the groom, 
but a -few years older . 1 The celebration is accom¬ 
panied by much dancing and feasting. After the 
ceremony the couple repair to the baile or dance hall, 
sometimes a residence. The bride and groom sepa¬ 
rate and mingle with their friends. They do not dis¬ 
play their affection in public, for it is a habit of this 
people to conceal their emotions. 

The personal dignity and self-respect of the people 
is great. They are extremely sensitive, and resent 
ill-treatment. They are, however, patient and long- 
suffering. A Filipino servant may receive brutal 
treatment for years without protest. At last his 
nature rebels; he flies into unreasoning passion, sets 
fire to the house, and disappears. Just punishment 
is accepted as inevitable, and no grudge is cherished. 
The Filipino servant who receives a whipping for a 
theft will think far more of his employer than were 
the latter to condone the offence. The native, when 
justly and humanely treated, will remain in the ser¬ 
vice of his master for a lifetime. He is a great 
admirer of moral and physical courage. In battle 
the native troops of the Philippine Constabulary fol¬ 
low their American officers to death, of which they 
are absolutely without fear. They will believe what is 
told them by their superiors, and are readily impressed. 

Perhaps the most discreditable assertion against the 
Filipinos as a race, in the eyes of the white man, is 

1 But, as elsewhere noted, the census shows the marrying age to 
be not much less than in the United States. 

7 


98 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


that they are indolent. This is in part true. For 
more than three centuries they have learned from the 
Spanish that manual labor is degrading; that it im¬ 
plies social inferiority. For this reason the wealthier 
class of Filipinos never do any manual work. The 
truth is that the Filipino has not worked as industri¬ 
ously perhaps as he might, for the reason that it has 
been unnecessary. His wants have been few and 
simple, and he has not been encouraged to increase 
them. There are, however, regions in the Philippines 
where the maintenance of existence calls for unremit¬ 
ting toil. In such sections the adaptable native works 
hard in the fields from the first gray of dawn until 
nightfall, with scarcely an interval except for his 
frugal meal. There are perhaps no more industrious 
workers than the Iloeanos of the populous northwest 
coast of Luzon, or the Igorrotes who have built stu¬ 
pendous rice-terraces in the mountainous heart of 
that island. No tropical people are more industrious 
than the Filipinos as a whole. 

The Filipino agriculturist—which class constitutes 
over ninety per cent of the population — is not inter¬ 
ested in politics. His interests and affections are 
concentrated in his family, his home, his labors, his 
petty diversions and pleasures, and the community in 
which he is born and where he dies, provided he may 
pursue his life uninterruptedly, and that his labors 
may meet with a measurable degree of success. “ The 
Filipinos have no political opinions,” says one of their 
race; “ they get all their ideas from their leaders.” 


FILIPINO TRAITS 


99 


The peasant is thus described by Mr. John Fore¬ 
man: “ He is patient and forbearing in the extreme, 
sober, plodding, anxious only about providing for his 
immediate wants, and seldom feels ‘the canker of 
ambitious thoughts/ ” 

And Mr. Dean C. Worcester says of him: “If 
cleanliness be next to godliness, he certainly has 
much to recommend him. Every village has its 
bath; . . . men, women, and children patronize it 
liberally 

Let us present two estimates of the Filipino people 
by those of their own race. Dr. Manuel Xerez, Chief 
of the Bureau of Statistics, says: 

“Ordinarily the native Filipino, because he has been 
under the influence of the friar for so long a time, is 
stoical. They are fond of work up to a certain point. 
They will work as long as it is necessary to gain a live¬ 
lihood. They have not yet learned to save what they 
earn by their work, for they have always been obliged, 
whenever they had any money, to give it to the Church, 
and in this way they have become indifferent to saving. 
The imagination of the native, when he talks in his own 
language, may be easily seen to be very active and easily 
aroused, considering the small amount of education he 
has. On account of the education in fanaticism which 
they have received, they regard life as a transitory state, 
and they are indifferent to death. It is not that they 
are brave, but that they think that in the next world 
they will enjoy a better life than here. Watching the 
death of a field laborer in the Philippines is like watch¬ 
ing the death of a saint, for although he may be suffering 
very intensely he dies quietly, trusting in God.” 


100 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Mr. Ramdn Reyes Lala, a prominent native of 
Manila, says: 

“ Incomprehensible inconsistencies obtain in nearly 
every native. Students of character may, therefore, 
study the Filipino for years, and yet at last have no 
definite impression of their mental or moral status. 

" All travellers unite in attributing to the natives ex¬ 
treme family affection. They are very fond of their 
children, who, as a rule, are respectful and well behaved. 
The noisy little hoodlums of European and American 
cities are utterly unknown. The old are tenderly cared 
for, and are venerated; while in almost every well-to-do 
household are one or two poor relatives, who, while mere 
hangers-on, are nevertheless always made welcome to 
the table of their host. Indeed, the hospitality of the 
Filipino is proverbial. A guest is always welcome, and 
welcome to the best. The better class, too, gladly em¬ 
brace every opportunity to feast their neighbors or the 
stranger within their gates.” 

Some of our readers may consider that in our pict¬ 
ure of Filipino traits the faults of the Filipino have 
been glossed over and his virtues given undue em¬ 
phasis. It is true, indeed, that the seeming care¬ 
lessness and indifference of a Filipino servant, for 
instance, is often extremely provoking. Especially 
is the American apt to become impatient and indis¬ 
criminately condemn the race when neither servant 
nor employer are able to make themselves clearly 
understood in the language of the other. Those who 
live in Manila but for a short period and who do not 
ever come into intimate contact with the people, so 


FILIPINO TRAITS 


101 


that they never thoroughly understand them, are 
often accustomed on their return from the islands to 
speak most disparagingly of Filipino traits. Some 
of the American Congressmen and writers who have 
been in the islands but a few weeks — at the most 
only several months — have been especially bitter in 
their estimate of the Filipino character. 

But among those who have lived long in the 
islands, or whose occupation is of such a nature that 
it has brought them close to the people, there will 
almost invariably be found to exist high regard and 
lifelong friendships between the white and brown 
races. It is not too much to say that the white man 
then finds the Filipino capable, honest, intelligent, 
and sympathetic; while if he holds toward him the 
relation of employer he understands him so thor¬ 
oughly that you never will find an old resident who 
will make sweeping statements against the people. 
Fie realizes that at the foundation the Filipino is 
innately worthy and capable of the greatest advances, 
and that his actions depend largely upon his educa¬ 
tion and experience,—always, of course, taking into 
consideration the personal equation which among the 
Filipinos is as marked as in any other race. 

It is as difficult, however, to describe Filipino char¬ 
acteristics precisely as it would be to set forth in a 
manner not subject to criticism the characteristics of 
the American people. There are all sorts and con¬ 
ditions of men among the native population of the 
Philippines. 


102 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

Suffice it that the Filipino is as yet a child, some¬ 
times naughty, sometimes petulant and rebellious, but 
still a child, gay at heart, intelligent, gentle, and pli¬ 
able, who stretches up his hand to us that we may 
lead him along the path that leads to the manhood of 
nations. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Much has been published upon the topics treated in this 
chapter. Perhaps the most valuable works are those of the 
Jesuit and Augustinian fathers, some of which have been par¬ 
tially translated by the Government press. Many of the Span¬ 
ish volumes, however, dating back as far as the seventeenth 
century, are now out of print. For further information the 
reader is referred to the following: “The Philippine Islands” 
(John Foreman, F.R.G.S., 1890); “ Social History of the Races 
of Mankind” (A. Featherman, 1887); “The Peopling of the 
Philippines” (Rudolf Virchow, 1897); “The Inhabitants of 
the Philippines ” (Frederick H. Sawyer, 1900); “ Character¬ 
istics of Christian Tribes” (“The Census of the Philippines,” 
Vol. I, 1903); “The Pearls of the Orient” (Henry Savage 
Landor, 1902). 


CHAPTER VII 

LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 

Outline of Topics : American desire to cherish patriotism — 
Condition of the Filipinos before the American occupation — Be¬ 
ginnings of self-government — Rights guaranteed to the Filipinos 
by an act of Congress in July, 1902—Peonage among the Malays 

— Creation of the Philippine Commission — Government Bureaus, 
and functions of each — Courts — Constabulary, or civil police of 
native troops under American officers — Establishment of a Con¬ 
stitutional Assembly—Subjection of the Insular Government to 
the United States Congress — Dissatisfaction w'itli this subjec¬ 
tion, and especially with the tariff laws — The Philippines a self- 
supporting country —Agricultural, mineral, and forestry land laws 

— Land titles — Monetary system — Civil service — Inoculation 
for the prevention of disease — Bibliography. 

I N assuming sovereignty over the Philippine 
Islands the American people have not intended 
to extinguish Philippine patriotism. It has been 
our purpose and object, rather, to increase that spirit 
and to provide the people with laws and a form of 
government established as closely upon American 
ideals as possible. 

It is, of course, recognized that from time im¬ 
memorial the Filipinos have never enjoyed the privi¬ 
leges of self-government. Before the coming of the 
Spanish the half-million natives were governed by 
various chiefs, and individual liberty was an ideal 
perhaps unconceived of. During the more than three 


104 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


centuries of Spanish rule the people were not en¬ 
couraged to take part in the affairs of government; 
moreover, the government which they then had was 
scarcely of a character to implant in their hearts a 
knowledge of the principles and responsibilities of 
self-government. Had America not intervened to 
assist the people in their struggle against Spain, and 
had they been able to free themselves from Spanish 
domination, it is quite certain that though the gov¬ 
ernment set up by them might perhaps have been 
in name a republic it would never have been a pure 
democracy. 1 The bulk of the population would have 
been most certainly ruled by an inconsiderable minor¬ 
ity, or the country would have been divided into va¬ 
rious petty States. Whatever would have been the 
outcome, it was felt that the United States could not 
safely withdraw while the people were incapable of 
protecting themselves either from a foreign nation 
or, what seemed inevitable, internal dissension and 
bloodshed. 

Speculations as to what might have been are 
always uncertain, though by their nature they may 
cast light upon the present. Thus it is with our 
occupation of the Philippines. Having come into 
the country when its leaders were aspiring toward 
religious and social freedom and independence, and 
were groping toward means by which these might be 

1 That is, of course, assuming that the islands would not have 
been taken possession of by some other Oriental or European 
nation. 


LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


105 


secured, the United States is endeavoring to teach 
the people the art of self-government, and so to fulfil 
her obligations to mankind and her pledges to them. 
No other great nation has ever undertaken to extend 
autonomy to an alien subject race. Without laying 
ourselves open to a charge of political bombast, 
it may be truthfully said that the step marks a 
new and higher ethical position in the standard of 
nations. 

In our guidance of the Filipino people we purpose 
leading them along the path we have trod. The 
Government of the Philippines is inspired by those 
free and democratic principles which have made the 
American people a great, strong, and happy nation. 
By an act of Congress 1 signed by the President of 
the United States on July 1, 1902, those personal 
rights that belong to the citizens of all enlightened 
nations are guaranteed to the people in terms which 
bear a close resemblance to the wording of the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States. The following are 
some of the provisions, in abridged form: 

The people have the right to call themselves citizens 
of the Philippine Islands, and as such are entitled to the 
protection of the United States. 

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property 
without due process of law. 

The rules for trial by jury, in criminal prosecutions, 
are identical with those in the United States. 

1 Act of July 1, 1902 (public No. 235), entitled: “An act tempo* 
rarily to provide for administration of the affairs of Civil Govern¬ 
ment in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes.” 


106 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


No person shall be imprisoned for debt. 

No law impairing the obligations of contracts shall be 
enacted. 

Habeas corpus may not be suspended except when, 
in cases of rebellion, suspension of it may be required 
by the public safety. 

No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be 
enacted. 

Slavery and involuntary servitude shall not exist. 

Excessive bail shall not be required. 

No cruel and unusual punishments shall be inflicted. 

The people are guaranteed against unreasonable 
searches and seizures. 

Eeligious freedom, freedom of speech and the press, 
liberty to assemble, separation of Church and State, are 
guaranteed. 

The rule of taxation is uniform throughout the archi¬ 
pelago. 

No private or local bill may be enacted which shall 
embrace more than one subject, and that subject shall be 
expressed in the title of the bill. 

In short, to the citizens of the Philippine Islands 
are granted the same freedom of person and property 
as is enjoyed by the citizens of the United States. 

The significance of the document granting con¬ 
stitutional liberties to the Filipino people is as pro¬ 
found as that of the Magna Charta or the Declaration 
of Independence. Peonage, or practical slavery, has 
prevailed from time immemorial in many forms among 
the Malay people. It is not a Spanish institution, for 
it is found among the Moros of Mindanao who never 
recognized Spanish rule, as well as in other Malay 
States outside the Philippines. It is the domination 


LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


107 


of the intelligent and educated, but numerically in¬ 
significant, population over the comparatively ignorant 
and uncivilized majority. Its defects were empha¬ 
sized, though perhaps it was not extended, under 
Spanish rule. By this system the poor are often 
kept in debt to their masters or the caciques of 
their own people. Sometimes caciquism may mean 
but political service; and again it may exact the 
performance of field or household labor for a lifetime 
without pay. An instance: The wife of a Filipino 
peasant was sick, and needed medicines and the at¬ 
tention of a physician. The peasant, lacking money, 
went to the cacique or chief and engaged a physician 
and purchased remedies. The woman recovered. The 
husband was required to perform much field work for 
the cacique, to whom he had been for many years in 
debt for rice and clothes. He never thought to re¬ 
pudiate these obligations, the measure of which was 
defined by the cacique, nor to set forth for himself 
as an independent wage-earner, for he never caught 
up with his debt. From his children in the public 
schools this man learned that under the Government 
of the Philippines he was not required to bind his 
body for debt. Thenceforth he became a free man. 
It may be observed here that the intelligent and 
well-to-do Filipinos generally recognize in caciquism 
a great social evil; and they rejoice in the enlighten¬ 
ment of all the people, which is tending to render 
the institution unnecessary and impossible. 

The general government of the Philippines is in 


108 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the hands of a body known as the Philippine Com¬ 
mission, whose members are appointed by the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. The Philippine Commission 
enacts such laws as are not in opposition to the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States and the act of Congress 
of July 1,1902. The Philippine Commission consists 
of the President of the Commission, — the Governor- 
General of the islands being ex officio President,— 
and seven members, of whom four are Americans and 
three Filipinos. The Commission is a legislative body, 
and shares authority with the Assembly. The execu¬ 
tive work is carried out by the Governor-General, Vice 
Civil Governor, and the Secretaries of the following 
departments, who are also members of the Commis¬ 
sion: the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 
Commerce and Police, the Secretary of Finance and 
Justice, and the Secretary of the Bureau of Public 
Instruction. 

The first Philippine Commission was appointed 
in 1900. Since that period several of the Commis¬ 
sioners have been succeeded in office, though some 
members have served continuously. Four of the 
Philippine Commissioners are chiefs of departments. 
The departments of the Secretary of the Interior are 
the Bureau of Health, the Quarantine Service, the 
Bureau of Forestry, the Bureau of Science, the Bureau 
of Public Lands, the Bureau of Agriculture, and the 
Weather Bureau. The Department of Mines is a 
division of the Bureau of Science. The jurisdiction 
of the Secretary of Commerce and Police extends to 


LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


109 


the following Bureaus: Constabulary, Public Works 
(Railroads), Consulting Architect, Ports, Navigation, 
Port Works, Coast and Geodetic Survey. That of the 
Secretary of Finance and Justice: Banks and Banking, 
Coinage and Currency, Internal Revenue, the city of 
Manila, the Treasury, and the Auditor’s office. The 
Secretary of Public Instruction has jurisdiction of 
the Bureaus of Education, Supply, Printing, Prisons, 
and Cold Storage. 

The supervision of the various bureaus, however, 
is not established by hard and fast rule under the 
jurisdiction of any particular officer of the Commis¬ 
sion, since each department of the Commission cares 
for such bureaus as naturally come within its admin¬ 
istration. Quite frequently development or change 
in any particular bureau has occasioned its change to 
another department. In this respect the Philippine 
Commission resembles the President’s Cabinet, where 
each cabinet officer retains supervision of those bu¬ 
reaus which can be most easily administered by his 
department. 

The first task the Commission found upon its 
arrival was the establishment of order. A complete 
judiciary system was founded by act of the Philippine 
Commission —136 — on June 16, 1901, and put into 
operation. Now justice is administered as regularly 
and as fairly as it is anywhere in the United States. 

“ The ancient Spanish court system was tedious, dila¬ 
tory, and costly. Litigants were held up awaiting justice 
for years, while the lawyers and court officials fed off 


110 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


their substance. As a result of this system, people were 
very chary about going to court, and would, as a rule, much 
prefer to suffer injustice at the hands of the criminally 
inclined, to taking their causes before the judges. Now 
it is safe to say that court cases are settled on an average 
in one-half or even one-fourth the time consumed under 
the old regime.” 1 

Under the provisions of the act of June, 1901, the 
judicial power of the Governor was vested in the 
Supreme Court of one Chief Justice and six Associate 
Justices, a Court of First Instance in every Province 
in which civil government is established, and a Court 
of Justice of the Peace in every municipality of the 
Province in which there is a Court of First Instance. 
The act also provides for the Attorney-General and 
Assistant Attorney-General, and a Solicitor-General; 
and it terminated the jurisdiction of military tribunals 
over civil cases. 

Many important changes have been made by the 
Insular Government over former court methods. In 
the old Spanish days long-hand writers took down 
the proceedings of the court. The code of civil and 
criminal procedure is simple. As a rule, until the 
end of the Spanish sovereignty the entire judicial 
system, including the codes of civil and criminal 
procedure, followed the forms observed in Spain. 
Usually the judges of the court were Spaniards. 
While the laws were humane and wise on the whole, 
and were adapted to the state of society in the 


1 Henry C. Ide, former Governor-General. 


LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


111 


Philippines, the codes of procedure and the personnel 
of the courts could easily be converted into obstacles 
great enough and permanent enough to make the 
people believe that the laws were not for their pro¬ 
tection; and it is not improbable that this feeling 
added some strength to the general opposition toward 
Spain which finally appeared. There are now many 
American attorneys in the islands. Spanish will be 
the official language of the courts until January 1, 
1911, but whenever in the opinion of the judges, in 
the Supreme Court and Courts of First Instance, the 
importance of the case may justify it, duplicate rec¬ 
ords will be furnished both in English and Spanish, 
This is a fortunate settlement of a difficult question, 
and prevents the resentment which w T ould have fol¬ 
lowed had English been forced upon the people. 

The Insular Constabulary is keeping magnificent 
order, and nearly all the towns maintain their own 
police forces. The liquor question is not serious in 
the Philippines. We have never seen an intoxi¬ 
cated Filipino, and a gentleman who has lived in the 
islands ten years says he has seen but two natives 
under the influence of liquor. “ As a class they are 
the most temperate people I have ever observed. They 
have not fallen in love with American whiskey. 
Their drink, vino , an alcoholic liquor made princi¬ 
pally from sugar, is intoxicating enough, — so much 
so in fact that the natives use it sparingly and seldom 
drink to excess.” 1 

1 Henry C. Ide, former Governor-General. 


112 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

The Philippine Constabulary plays an important 
part in the promotion of commercial progress and the 
education of the people. The Constabulary was or¬ 
ganized in August, 1901, at the suggestion of General 
Luke E. Wright. The idea was to have an efficient 
patrol system of the entire islands, which could be 
cheaply administered through the use of native troops 
with American officers in charge. There are at present 
250 officers in the Constabulary and 5,000 enlisted 
men. The total appropriation for the fiscal year end¬ 
ing June 30, 1906, was 81,646,000; the total cost per 
man per year of the Philippine Constabulary is but 
$329.25. 

In some respects the Constabulary is the most 
unique military organization in the world. The men 
never carry rations with them, but buy all their food as 
they go through the country. At three minutes’ notice 
a constabulary company can get under way to go on 
a campaign, and may not return for six months. 
The native trooper, as soon as he dons Uncle Sam’s 
uniform, is absolutely faithful. Even the Moro Con¬ 
stabulary with their American uniforms have fought 
as desperately for the Stars and Stripes against 
people of their blood as any soldier in the field. It is 
hardly possible to tell by statistics what the Constabu¬ 
lary as an organization really has accomplished. Its 
work in the field is practically the least of what it 
does, but the following gives an idea of some of the 
field work for the four years to the end of June, 1905 : 
Ladrones and insurrectos captured and surrendered, 



# FROM THE PRIMITIVE TO THE MODERX 

Moro Constabulary recruits before enlistment — The same recruits 
three months after enlistment— A crack Constabulary 
company — Constabulary band at Tuguegarao- 
























LAY/S AND GOVERNMENT 113 

9155; Laclrones and insurrectos killed, 2504; arms 
secured, 4288; stolen animals recovered, 5805. 

Of course, it must be understood that the military 
work proper of the Constabulary has almost ceased 
with the pacification of the islands and the resump¬ 
tion of normal conditions. A useful work performed 
by this organization is the building of telephone lines. 
Upon December 81, 1905, there were in operation 
2348 miles of telephones, a net-work extending all 
over the islands and informing the organization of 
everything that happens. Though the daily work 
of the Constabulary is not military, j^et the system 
of administration is military. For the purpose of 
administration and discipline the Constabulary is a 
centralized organization. The director and four of 
the assistant directors are officers of the army detailed 
to report to the Governor-General. Fully four-fifths 
of the American officers of this organization have 
seen service in the army, regular or volunteer, some 
as officers and some as enlisted men. 

The Constabulary is organized into companies of 
two officers and fifty men each, which are assigned to 
Provinces according to the area and the population, 
and the known character of the residents as to law 
and order. Some Provinces have one company, and 
others have as many as five. There are eleven un¬ 
attached companies for general service in the dis¬ 
tricts to which they are assigned. Four of these are 
stationed in Manila at the Constabulary school; but 
fully one-half of this unattached force has been on 
8 


114 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

constant field duty since the organization of the 
service. 

The officers of the Constabulary, as a rule, are 
young men, the great majority being under thirty, 
and of the entire two hundred and fifty only a dozen 
are over thirty-five. The pay of officers ranges from 
$1100 for third lieutenant to $1950 for captain. 
Extra pay is given for ability to speak and read the 
native dialect. For administrative purposes the Phil¬ 
ippines are divided into five districts, each in charge 
of an assistant director. These officers have a large 
freedom of action, and are responsible for the order 
of their districts, and for the administration of the 
forces under them. They visit the various Provinces 
in their districts and advise with the provincial 
governor and local officials, and render them such aid 
as is needed, not only to keep order, but to prevent 
trouble. Everywhere the Constabulary are in touch 
with the leading citizens. Many acts of amazing 
bravery have been performed by the Constabulary, 
for the officers have always been conspicuous in lead¬ 
ing the charges of their men. But, above all, the Con¬ 
stabulary is a peace organization ; perhaps its greatest 
achievement was that performed by Colonel H. H. 
Bandholtz, who secured the surrender, in May, 1906, 
of the most desperate remaining outlaws in the Prov¬ 
inces, under no promise but that they should receive 
a fair trial at Manila. 

The Philippines are to have a constitutional gov¬ 
ernment. Under the act of Congress of July 1, 1902 


LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


115 


(the Constitution, as it were, of the Philippines), it 
w r as provided that two years after the taking of the 
census the people should elect members to an as¬ 
sembly. About seventy-five members have been 
elected to this first Assembly, which will meet in 
July, 1907. When this body is in working order it 
will constitute the Lower House of the Philippine 
Congress and the Commission will act as the Higher, 
the latter body corresponding somewhat to the Senate 
of the United States. 

Between six and seven hundred municipalities al¬ 
ready enjoy complete autonomy, and forty Provinces 
choose their own governors. The purpose of the 
administrators is to teach the people the art of 
self-government through its practice, under careful 
supervision. This purpose is being fulfilled. Many 
thousands have qualified for suffrage, and intense 
interest is taken in the coming Assembly. 

The Lower House, particularly, will afford a large 
measure of home rule. Attention should, however, 
be called to the fact that in the passage of its laws 
the Government of the Philippines is bound by the 
acts of the Congress of the United States. This feat¬ 
ure has given rise to much dissatisfaction on the part 
of the American, Filipino, and foreign merchants, 
planters, Insular Government officials, and the general 
community. It is asserted that, inasmuch as the 
islands are self-supporting and maintain their own 
Government, they should be free to make such treaties 
and establish such larger trade relationships with other 


116 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


countries as in their judgment will prove beneficial, 
or else that they should receive the commercial bene¬ 
fits of the United States flag. Great dissatisfaction 
has arisen in regard to the tariff laws passed by the 
Congress of the United States. By these laws duties 
amounting to seventy-five per cent of the tariffs be¬ 
tween the United States and foreign countries apply 
between the United States and the Philippines. Un¬ 
der Spanish regime the people enjoyed a preferential 
market with Spain. That market has now been cut 
off, and it is affirmed that the failure to open our 
markets to Philippine products renders it impossible 
for the islands, under the present methods of agricul¬ 
ture, to pay the heavy tariffs and freights, and com¬ 
pete with other countries. Apart from the question 
of justice, it is certain that the tariffs have been a 
great handicap to rapid development. The relief 
tariff measure, as is generally known, passed Congress 
by a great majority, but was not reported on favorably 
by the Philippine Committee of the Senate. However, 
free trade with the Philippines would seem to be as¬ 
sured upon the expiration of the period provided by the 
Treaty of Paris, between the United States and Spain, 
ratified in Washington February 10, 1899. By that 
treaty it was provided that for the period of ten years 
the United States should admit Spanish ships and 
merchandise into the Philippine ports on the same 
conditions as the ships and merchandise of the United 
States. 

Contrary to the general impression, no funds of the 


LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


117 


United States go to tlie Philippines; they are self- 
supporting and maintain all their own public works 
and institutions. Several years ago, during the fam¬ 
ine and distress following the insurrection, the Con¬ 
gress of the United States passed an agricultural 
relief bill appropriating $3,000,000, which was wisely 
expended in the purchase of rice, carabaos, and other 
necessities. The islands do not, of course, contribute 
for the maintenance of the United States army in the 
Philippines, nor for the army transport service. The 
funds for the islands are obtained from customs, 
tariffs, taxation, and internal revenue. The last- 
named has afforded a happy solution of the problem 
of raising necessary funds. Great amounts are paid 
for luxuries, such as liquors and cigars. By apply¬ 
ing the principles of internal revenue to these in¬ 
dustries large funds have been obtained for carrying 
on public works. Indeed, so satisfactory has been 
the amount raised that the land tax for 1907 has 
been suspended, to assist the planter, without jeop¬ 
ardizing the funds necessary for the government 
administration. 

Americans will be interested in the laws regarding 
the taking up of agricultural or mineral lands, and 
the obtaining of forestry concessions. Under the act 
of July 1, 1902, any bona fide settler may take up a 
homestead of sixteen hectares (forty acres). A com¬ 
pany can make homestead on 2500 acres of public 
domain, provided it shows good faith by a bona fide 
occupancy of five years. The Forestry Bureau issues 


118 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


licenses to cut timber; such licenses frequently cover 
large areas, and are granted from year to year; and a 
company may renew its license provided it meets the 
bid of the highest competing bidder. A similar rule 
prevails in some sections where a company, in addi¬ 
tion to homesteading 2500 acres, may lease 2500 acres; 
and at the expiration of the twenty-year period the 
company will obtain title for another twenty years if 
it be not exceeded in its bid. The cost of a forestry 
license is a royalty on the timber cut. This royalty 
varies with the quality of the timber, but in the long 
run it is equal to a little more than five per cent of 
the value of the lumber cut. This is less than stump- 
age in the United States. 

A mineral claim may be located 1000 feet in length 
by 1000 feet in breadth. Coal lands may be entered 
upon to the extent of sixty-four hectares for an indi¬ 
vidual, or one hundred and twenty-eight hectares for 
a corporation. The cost of coal lands is twenty-five 
dollars a hectare if located more than fifteen miles 
from a completed railroad or navigable stream, and 
fifty dollars a hectare for coal lands within that 
radius. 1 

The limiting by Congress of the amount of public 
lands which corporations may take up to 2500 acres 
is not generally favored by Philippine officials, inas¬ 
much as larger areas are necessary to support a 

1 Persons wishing to enter upon the public domain should address 
the Department of the Interior, Manila, P. I. United States postage 
rates apply. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSTABULARY 

Dispensary in Constabulary hospital, Tuguegarao— A corner of the 
surgical ward — A company of Philippine 
Constabulary 
































































































































































LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


119 


modern sugar-mill. However, a limited amount of 
private land can be had in the islands. The measure 
was designed to protect the people from capitalistic 
aggressions, and has some good features. In the old 
days of prosperity in the sugar industry there were but 
few sugar haciendas of over 2500 acres. 

One may obtain in the Philippines an absolute and 
indisputable title to property. Land registration after 
the Torrens system, in vogue in Australia, has been 
put in force and is working admirably. 

Several years ago the Commission repealed all the 
old Spanish revenue laws, which taxed the small deal¬ 
ers almost to the bankruptcy point, and established 
instead revenue regulations that make alcohol and 
tobacco bear the heaviest burden. The Philippine 
monetary system was based upon the Mexican dollar, 
and the currency fluctuated with the price of silver. 
The Commission wiped out the old system and intro¬ 
duced a new one based on the gold standard, which 
is as solid as the treasury of the Government. To 
do this it was found necessary to get rid of both the 
Mexican dollar and the Philippine peso, and this was 
accomplished in a remarkably short time. The Mexi¬ 
can dollar was passed out of the country as rapidly as 
possible by the people themselves, for the Commission 
placed a heavy tax upon that class of money. The 
old pesos w^ere redeemed by the new Government. 

Practically all branches of the Philippine Govern¬ 
ment are now under the Civil Service. All appoint¬ 
ments, except the very highest, are made from lists 


120 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


of eligible persons who have passed a satisfactory ex¬ 
amination for the places, and promotions within the 
service are made upon the same basis. 

One of the most important matters taken up by the 
Government was the investigation of tropical diseases, 
which is now being carried on in the laboratory at 
Manila. At this laboratory smallpox vaccine and 
various serums for the cure and prevention of dis¬ 
eases in man and beast are prepared. A serum 
preparation for the prevention of rinderpest, which 
threatened to exterminate the cattle, has proved won¬ 
derfully successful, and the disease has been practi¬ 
cally stamped out. When it appears, here and there 
at infrequent intervals, a force from the laboratory 
proceeds to the herds infected and puts an end to the 
epidemic. By this means many millions of dollars’ 
worth of valuable animals have been saved. Small¬ 
pox was prevalent before the American occupation, 
but since vaccination has been carried on to an exten¬ 
sive degree, the disease in its epidemic form has 
disappeared. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

For Acts of Philippine Commission, write Bureau of Insular 
Affairs, Washington, D. C., stating laws desired. For Acts of 
Congress, write Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., or 
your Congressional Representative. 

Every one intending to enter the Philippines should closely 
read the Act of July 1, 1902 (Public 235), often called the Phil¬ 
ippine Organic Act,—particularly Section 15, which limits cor¬ 
porations to 2500 acres of the public domain, and Section 75, 


LAWS AND GOVERNMENT 


121 


which limits all companies, except those that irrigate and conse¬ 
quently develop the entire holdings, to 2500 acres. (Any holding 
company may profitably run ditches for irrigation and drainage 
throughout the tracts of sub-companies.) Also read Act No. 
1459 of the Philippine Commission, defining the powers of cor¬ 
porations. There is absolutely nothing in the spirit or letter of 
the laws to deter any corporation from entering the Philippines, 
and vast private estates are available. 

A biased criticism of American policy is “Our Philippine 
Problem,” by Henry Parker Willis, issued by Henry Holt & 
Co., New York, in 1905. Even the criticisms are out of date. 
“ The Philippines and the Filipinos,” by James A. LeRoy, Ginn 
& Co., Boston, 1906, is recommended. Special reports of all 
Philippine Government Bureaus are regularly issued under 
authority Philippine Commission, Manila, P. I. 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Outline of Topics : Beautiful appearance of Philippine woods — 
Their great size, durability, and richness of coloring; their quali¬ 
ties known in China and in Europe—Area and value of Philippine 
forests; seas of tree-tops ; construction and cabinet woods ; ebonies 
and mahoganies — Opportunity for modern plants; Government 
encouragement; forestry regulations; present developments; 
bright outlook for lumbering industry — Forest products; gutta 
percha; dyewoods ; rattan, rubber, rubber vines ; opportunities for 
cultivation of domestic rubber and gutta percha — Bibliography. 



,ERHAPS nowhere in the world can be found 
so great a variety of wonderful hardwoods as 


in the Philippine Islands. Every observer is 
impressed with their infinite richness of coloring, 
the great size of the timbers, and their durability. 
Throughout the civilized portions of the islands are 
many remarkably old edifices whose interior finish¬ 
ings are of almost priceless native hardwoods. Huge 
mansions there are whose floors, glistening in superb 
natural finish without the aid of varnish, and reflect¬ 
ing one’s image with the clearness of plate glass mir¬ 
rors, reveal in their texture wonderful shadings of 
color and exquisite varieties of pattern. In the 
Cagayan Valley of Northern Luzon there is an old 
Spanish mansion whose floors are of huge bolted 
planks of different woods laid alternately, and 


THE FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 123 


brilliant in their natural finish of golden straw, ebony- 
black, and claret-red colors. Soldiers who were in 
the Philippines during the early period of the Ameri¬ 
can occupancy will remember the old Oriente Hotel 
(now the Constabulary Headquarters) in Manila, and 
the huge staircase of rich, shining, claret-red Tin- 
dalo. The Spanish appreciated the wonderful woods 
of the Philippines. In remote provinces one occa¬ 
sionally comes upon pieces of exquisitely carved fur¬ 
niture, and great doors and tables often made of 
single boards. Some of these exquisite hardwoods 
have been taken to England and Spain; they are 
much used in Southern China, particularly in Canton, 
in the making of marvellous wood-carvings; in Japan 
they are used in decorative cabinet-work; but they 
are comparatively unknown to Americans. 

Either from the view-point of the artist and the 
nature-lover, or from that of the capitalist and the 
lumberman, the forests of the Philippines excel 
the forests of any other region of equal area in the 
tropical world. With a charm and grandeur pecu¬ 
liarly their own; with giant trees meeting in thick 
crowns eighty to one hundred and fifty feet over¬ 
head and so shading the earth that it seems twilight 
at midday; with a firm carpet of dry mould mostly 
clear of underbrush, but often occupied with great 
decorative palms and huge tree ferns as much as sixty 
feet in height, there is a glory in the vividly green- 
crested forests of the Philippines such as may, 
perhaps, be found nowhere else. 


124 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


It is estimated by the Forestry Bureau of the Phil¬ 
ippines that there are in the islands not less than 
forty million acres of commercial timber to replace 
the exhausted stocks of the world. The Bureau 
makes a distinction between wood land and timber 
land, the amount of wood land considerably exceed¬ 
ing the area covered by commercial forests. Of this 
great area less than one per cent is estimated to be 
under private ownership. Although the value of 
these woods has not been computed by “ timber 
cruisers,” it is believed to exceed two billions of 
dollars. Their natural yearly growth is computed at 
one billion four hundred million cubic feet. Fully 
ninety-nine per cent of this lumber goes to waste; 
millions and millions of feet of valuable hardwoods 
arrive at maturity and pass the period of their com¬ 
mercial value, to decay without vibrating to the wood¬ 
man’s axe. 

Originally the entire Philippines probably were 
covered with forests. As a rule, the largest quantity 
of timber is found where there is the smallest popu¬ 
lation. For instance, on Cebu Island, which has the 
densest population, is little commercial timber; on 
the Island of Mindoro, where there is an average of 
but one and one-half persons to the square mile, are 
some of the densest forests. 

With the exception of the pine forests of the moun¬ 
tains of Northern Luzon, and the huge calentas or 
Philippine cedar found throughout the islands, practi¬ 
cally all the commercial woods of the Philippines are 



NATIVE CANOES, HOLLOWED FROM SINGLE LOGS 



NATIVES HAULING LOGS ON THE BEACH 






















THE FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 125 


hardwoods. Their texture is so close and their spe¬ 
cific gravity so great that most of them, even when 
dry, will sink in salt water like so much lead. 

Since the World’s Fair in St. Louis (1904), where 
Philippine woods were largely exhibited, knowledge 
of the forests of the islands has greatly increased. 
As against 396 tree species in the Philippine forestry 
regulations at that time, 665 are now listed. The 
researches of the Government, and of commercial 
lumbermen as well, have not only brought about a 
better knowledge of Philippine woods, but have re¬ 
vealed the fact that the forests are far more extensive 
than they had been thought to be. 

Philippine woods are not found in straight u stands ” 
of any one species, as, for instance, pine, spruce, and 
redwood are found in the United States. The species 
are intermixed. On a stand of fifty square miles there 
may be as many as 400 varieties of trees, of which 
sixty or seventy varieties will be of merchantable 
size, that is, over fifteen inches in diameter. Even 
under these conditions the average of valuable timber 
to the acre is very great. Instances are known in 
which large tracts average 40,000 feet of merchant¬ 
able timber — board measure — per acre. A lumber¬ 
man operating on Negros Island has estimated that 
in some localities the timber scaled 240,000 feet to 
the acre. 1 Another lumberman has estimated that 
in a tract of 336 square miles the readily marketable 

1 This is probably a bit high, but it is possible, especially if 
there are a number of the largest trees on each acre. 


126 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


timber ran from 10,000 to 13,000 feet — board meas¬ 
ure— per acre; and this includes several cultivated 
mountain-valleys on the tract wherein there are few 
trees. 1 With the exception of the California redwood 
forests, the forests of the Philippines exceed in mer¬ 
chantable lumber per acre those of the United States. 
An average acre in the Rocky Mountain forests yields 
1,000 to 2,000 board feet of lumber; in the forests of 
the Southern States 3,000 to 4,000 board feet; in 
northern forests, like Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
4,000 to 6,000 feet. A single redwood tree often 
yields as much as 100,000 feet of lumber. Acre for 
acre, there are probably no denser stands of timber 
than in the Philippines. 

All the timber in the Philippines may be roughly 
classed as “ construction woods ” and “ cabinet 
woods,” though frequently woods that would be 
deemed adapted to decorative purposes in any coun¬ 
try where hardwood is less abundant are there used 
for construction purposes. Among the construction 
woods, probably the most universally used is that 
known as molave (Vitex littoralis Dene). Molave is, 
next to lauan , probably the most plentiful commercial 
lumber in the islands. The general appearance of 
the tree and the texture of the wood correspond more 
closely to those of the American white oak than any 
other tree in the tropical Orient. The logs come 

1 The discrepancies of these estimates are accounted for, in part, 
by what the lumberman would consider “ merchantable ” timber, in 
view of his logging equipment. 


THE FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 127 


forty feet or more in length, and forty inches in 
diameter. The wood is easily sawn and worked, es¬ 
pecially when recently cut. It yields magnificent 
planks, and can be used in various ways, principally 
for flooring. There is scarcely a dwelling in the 
Philippines in which molave is not used for posts. 
These are sunk three feet in the ground, in which 
case, although it may be damp or muddy, they will 
not easily rot. Upon them are built houses, con¬ 
vents, and churches, with more security than over 
walls of mortar and stone, for the posts are less 
affected by the earthquakes. Dried molave weighs 
about seventy-six pounds to the cubic foot, and con¬ 
sequently sinks in salt water. It is used for ribs of 
ships, for rollers in the old type of sugar mills, for 
joists, for beams, and is not affected by rot, by the 
annay (white ant), or by the wood-louse. In some 
parts of the Philippines are Spanish churches with 
molave beams over one hundred years old, that are in 
as good condition as when put there. 

The molave belongs to the first group. It may be 
stated here that for the convenience of foresters in 
the old Spanish days, the woods were classified into 
groups, largely according to their value. This classi¬ 
fication was used in determining the royalty to be 
paid to the Government on woods cut on Govern¬ 
ment lands. The classification was also adopted by 
foresters owning private tracts, and later by the 
American Government. Of the 665 native tree spe¬ 
cies listed in the islands, twelve belong to the 


128 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


“ superior ” group, or most valuable trees; seventeen 
belong to the first group; eighty-six to the second; 
and the remainder to the third, fourth, and fifth 
groups, including fifteen species, largely gums and 
dyewoods, that are not deemed of lumbering value, 
and consequently are not to be felled. In addition to 
the trees so classified there are a large number which 
have not yet been entered on the Government forestry 
books, which, in the opinion of Mr. John Orr and 
other experienced foresters, have great commercial 
value. 

It costs no more to lumber in the Philippines than 
it does in the United States. Take, for instance, 
narra , the finest Philippine mahogany. It can be put 
on the beach — in fact put into the mill — for less 
than ten dollars per thousand feet, board measure. 
To get it to Manila costs anywhere from four dollars 
to six dollars per thousand, and it sells for from one 
hundred and fifty dollars to one hundred and seventy- 
five dollars per thousand. The lowest grade, for 
which a stumpage 1 of seventy-five cents per thousand 
is paid, sells in Manila for forty dollars per thousand. 
The stumpage runs all the way from seventy-five 
cents to three dollars and seventy-five cents per thou¬ 
sand. A company cutting in the Island of Negros 
receives about seventy-five dollars per thousand for 
the average of all timber cut; and looking over their 
books, one sees that they pay for stumpage about 

1 Stumpage is the royalty paid on timber that is cut on Govern¬ 
ment lands. 



NATIVE FILIPINO INDUSTRIES 

A pine slab brought from the forest by the Igorrotes — Native 
ship-building plant in Southern Luzon — Spears of 
steel mined and forged by Igorrotes 


















THE FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 129 


seventy-five cents per thousand feet; that is to say, 
stumpage amounts to only one per cent of the value 
of the timber cut, which is less than anywhere else 
in the world. 

One is apt to ask why it is, with the tremendous 
wealth of the Philippine forests, that capital, ever 
seeking investment, has not entered more largely into 
the Philippine field. The answer is simple: It is 
only lately that anything like modern methods have 
been adopted in the Philippine field. Any one who 
has seen six or eight carabao and about twenty men 
struggling all day to get a single stick of timber 
down to the beach a quarter of a mile away would 
not wonder why more has not been done in the 
Philippines. If these same men would use a cable 
they could haul the log down in five minutes. Some¬ 
times, too, it takes a whole day to chop a tree eigh¬ 
teen or twenty inches in diameter with their narrow 
axes, when the same tree could be cut through in five 
minutes with a modern cutting implement. A big 
company in the Philippines could take a logging 
engine to a central point, haul everything to that 
point, and have a railway running thence to the 
mill. 

The Government is lending every encouragement 
to the development of the lumbering industry. As 
already shown, the stumpage is the minimum, — much 
less in fact than the price of any timber on lands in 
the United States. Responsible parties intending to 
operate may be granted absolute concessions over 
9 


130 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


large areas for the period of twenty years. At the 
expiration of that period the concession is to be put 
up to the highest bidder; but the former owner of 
the concession is protected by the fact that it will go 
to him if his bid equals that of his highest competitor. 
However, with millions of acres of unworked forests, 
competition is improbable. 

Philippine cabinet woods have suffered some draw¬ 
back in the eyes of American furniture-makers, for 
the reason that the companies operating in the islands 
have worked on a small scale, and much of the lumber 
marketed has not been properly seasoned. Mahogany 
arriving from South America contains twenty-five per 
cent of moisture, which is extracted by seasoning 
down to about ten per cent, which is equal to that 
of seasoned Philippine woods. However, so great 
has been the demaud in the islands that green wood 
is sent into the mills and immediately marketed, with 
all the way from thirty-five to seventy-five per cent 
moisture. 

Lumbering in the Philippines is an industry in 
which Americans should be peculiarly interested. In 
the first place, it affords an opportunity for excellent 
profits. There is no braggadocio in the statement 
that American machinery in the forests is decidedly 
the best the world affords, and there can be no sur¬ 
passing our lumbermen. All the genius of the Yankee 
has been directed to accomplish in the forests what 
to-day is specially desirable in the Philippines, and to 
discover the modus operandi which shall require a 


THE FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 131 


minimum of labor. The American sawmill, with its 
auxiliaries, its loggers, its cables, its railroads, fulfils 
every requirement. There is no reason why the for¬ 
ests of the Philippines should not be subjected to 
modem logging methods with advantage. There are 
many millions of cubic feet of timber that should be 
cut in order to thin out the too dense growth. For 
instance, where there are three or four trees growing 
on the space required by one, the one so freed would 
put on more good wood each year than the four 
together. 

The greatest loss in logging in the Philippines is in 
the handling of the timber. At the present time the 
natives hitch up a dozen carabao to a log, drag it 
through a trail three or four miles, and deliver it at 
the seashore. Thus they proceed until a fair number 
of logs have been collected, at great expenditure of 
time and money. Then come the chartering of some 
schooner, the dragging of the logs to it, the discharg¬ 
ing and lightering, and hauling them up the esteros. 
And even then the logs are cut and sawn at a large 
profit. 

Suppose, however, an American company comes to 
the Philippines and builds a modern mill where the 
lumber is; suppose the logs were cut by platinum 
wire heated by electricity, the felled logs grappled by 
a cable, drawn to the river, and driven to the mill; 
again grappled at the incline, taken to the saw, the 
cut timber kilned, and when ready for shipment put 
aboard the ocean-going steamer at the mill. 


132 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Forests can never be destroyed by fire in the Philip¬ 
pines as in the United States, and it is improbable 
that they will ever be subjected to the reckless lum¬ 
bering that has been only too common in America. 
There are only eight steam sawmills in the entire city 
of Manila, and only three of these are equipped with 
thoroughly modern machinery. 1 Outside of Dalupaon, 
Southern Luzon, a small plant in Cagayan Valley 
of Northern Luzon, a plant at Santa Maria on the 
Island of Mindanao, and one on the Island of Negros, 
there is nothing in the way of lumbering that even 
approaches to modern methods. 

In addition to timber, Philippine forests contain 
many valuable by-products, among them wild rubber, 
gutta percha, dye woods, gums, varnishes, and rattan. 
The existence of the wild rubber vine has long been 
known among the natives in certain sections of Min¬ 
doro and Mindanao Islands. The area over which it 
grows is much larger than it was formerly supposed 
to be. It is now found in many islands. There are 
believed to be more than a dozen species of rubber 
vines, varying in size from the small parameria to a 
large vine which reaches a diameter of five inches and 
a length of 200 feet. When cut, the vines reproduce 
themselves from the roots with great rapidity. They 
have been seen springing up in a newly burned clear¬ 
ing where logs were still smouldering. An army officer 
who built a telegraph line from Davao to Cotabato, 

1 These are small plants as compared to those of the United 
States. 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 
Handing up a heavy tindalo stick — A lumber mill in Manila 












































































THE FORESTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 133 


Mindanao Island, is authority for the statement that 
it required a troop of cavalry to keep about half of 
the line cleared of the growing vines and creepers,' 
among which the rubber vines were very noticeable. 
A test by the Bureau of Government Laboratories 
in Manila showed that the bark comprises about 
forty-four per cent of the rubber vine. Of the bark 
between nine and ten per cent is pure rubber, giving 
about four per cent of rubber content for the entire 
vine. Under the native method of tapping, a single 
vine has yielded five pounds of rubber. In quality 
this rubber has been compared to a similar rubber 
produced in Borneo, which brings between fifty and 
sixty cents a pound in Singapore. There is every 
reason to believe that this vine can be treated in 
a wholesale manner by a rubber-crushing machine, 
similar to that employed for sugar cane, which now 
successfully extracts the rubber content from the 
vines in South America, Mexico, and the Congo. 

As is well known, the rubber is produced from a 
secretion in the bark of many species of vines and 
trees throughout the tropical world. The Philippines 
contain not only large quantities of wild rubber vines 
and many untested varieties of rubber trees, but they 
abound, in certain sections, in an even more valu¬ 
able product, gutta percha, which is limited to them 
and to the vicinity of the Malay Archipelago and 
the Straits Settlements. Though the native method 
of tapping wastes the larger portion of the gutta 
percha (indeed, it sometimes kills the tree), yet as 


134 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


much as 400,000 pounds of gutta percha has been 
exported in a single year by traders of Cotabato, Min¬ 
danao. There are vast areas in the Philippines rich 
in rubber vines and trees, and in gutta percha, which 
could be profitably worked. The soil and climatic 
conditions are well adapted to the cultivation of the 
domestic product. The Government has recently in¬ 
troduced seeds and seedling varieties. Young trees 
show surprising growth and vigor. 

Among varnishes is almaciga , which is of unsur¬ 
passed value in the finishing of piano cases, to which 
it imparts a singular lustre and brilliancy. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

“ The Forests of the Philippines,” by George P. Ahern; 
“Rubber and Gutta Percha in the Philippines,” Penoyer L. 
Sherman, Ph.l).; “ Philippine Forests,” Padre Jose Delgado. 

Besides the annual reports of the Forestry Bureau of the 
Philippines, a number of monographs have been issued by the 
Bureau which will be of special value to lumbermen. Among 
these are Bulletin No. 4, “ Philippine Saw Mills, Lumber Mar¬ 
ket and Prices, and Mechanical Tests of Properties and Uses of 
Philippine Woods”; Bulletin No. 5, “A Preliminary Working 
Plan for the Insular Lumber Company ” ; Bulletin No. 6, “ A 
Preliminary Working Plan for the Public Forest Tract of the 
Mindoro Lumber and Logging Company.” In addition, the 
Forestry Manual will be valuable. All these data sent free on 
request by Bureau of Forestry, Manila, P. I. 


CHAPTER IX 

HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 

Outline of Topics : Pre-Spanish period — Malay invasions — 
Effects of the Mohammedan invasion — Discovery of the islands 
by Magellan in 1521 —His death — Legaspi takes possession in 
name of Philip II of Spain — Legaspi founds Manila — His death 
— Salcedo, his grandson, continues the war — He routs the Chinese 
pirate, Li-ma-hong — His death — Summary of Philippine history 
to the American occupation — Prodigious labors of devout Spanish 
priests — Restrictive character of Spanish administration — In¬ 
crease of population after the Spanish conquest — Trade ham¬ 
pered by taxes for revenue — Opening of Philippine trade to the 
world — Gradual estrangement between Spain and her colonies — 
The revolution of 1896 — Dewey’s victory in 1898 — Dewey helped 
by Aguinaldo — Battle of Dajo Crater — Bibliography. 

^Tj ^HE history of the Philippines naturally di¬ 
vides itself into three great formative peri- 
ods : the traditional, or pre-Spanish period; 
the era of Spanish rule, from the discovery of the 
archipelago by Fernando de Magallanes (Ferdinand 
Magellan), March, 1521, to Admiral Dewey’s victory 
over the Spanish squadron in Manila Bay, May 1, 
1898; and the American period, which, though cov¬ 
ering less than a decade, is assuredly, by reason of 
its encouragement to individual thought and initia¬ 
tive, destined to work greater influence upon the lives 
of the people than all the centuries gone before. 



136 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Early histories of the Philippines do not contain 
facts relating to the Filipino people, but are more of 
the nature of chronicles of the religious orders, and 
statements of the rules of successive Spanish officials. 
These begin, therefore, with Magellan’s discovery. 
Centuries before that event the Philippines were in¬ 
habited by Malays, the forebears of the present people, 
who had then attained a degree of culture. At first 
the islands were inhabited doubtless by the Negritos, 
the aboriginal inhabitants, a race of pygmy blacks who 
then as now lived under most primitive conditions, 
subsisting on the flesh of animals caught in their snares 
or slain with their crude spears and bows and arrows. 
The pure Negritos are to this day destitute of culture. 
They are given neither to commerce nor the cultiva¬ 
tion of the soil. Among the more advanced a clear¬ 
ing is burned in the forest, and potatoes and corn are 
planted. In a year or so the weeds choke the crops, 
and the entire community seeks another locality. 

The history of the Malays as a distinct people 
is usually believed to be unknown. But they are 
generally accounted as much a separate stock as 
are the Mongolians, Caucasians, or Ethiopians. Had 
there been a means by which this people could have 
recorded its progress, it is believed that an uninter¬ 
rupted race stock could have been traced to the earli¬ 
est known periods of man’s existence in the world. 
Fourteen or fifteen centuries ago the Malays of Java 
had been conquered by Brahmin Hindus from India, 
whose great monuments and temples still exist on 


HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


137 


that island . 1 “Through the influence and power of 
the Hindus the Malay culture made a considerable 
advance, and a Sanskrit element, amounting in some 
cases to twenty per cent of the words, entered the 
Malayan language.” Following the Hindus into the 
Malay Archipelago came the Arab priests and mis¬ 
sionaries who supplanted Brahminism for the faith of 
Mahomet. Mohammedanism gradually made its way 
until on the arrival of the Europeans its frontiers 
were as those of the Malay race itself. When the 
Spanish came it was just gaining a foothold in Manila 
from the Southern Philippines. 

It is natural to assume that at first the scattered 
bands of Negritos were located perhaps in the more 
convenient places which were situated advantageously 
on bays and waterways. Their numbers were, it is 
believed, greater than at present. By the Malays 
they were driven more and more to the interior. The 
original Philippine Malays, who are presumed to be 
the ancestors of the present Igorrote tribes, doubtless 
had been .long in the archipelago when they were 
driven into the interior in consequence of a second 
invasion by people of their own race. At the coming 
of the sea-going Malays, those of the first invasion 
already had penetrated the remote interior of Luzon, 
and were enabled to defend themselves in impregnable 
positions. Driven to the interior mountains, there 
they have remained until the present time, possessing 

1 Some historians hold that the Malays themselves emigrated from 
Asia; the ruins mentioned, however, indicate Hindu workmanship. 


138 A HANDBOOK OF TJIE PHILIPPINES 


no written language, given to spirit worship, and alto¬ 
gether of a culture most primitive. 

A Philippine village when the Spaniards arrived 
was probably not greatly different from a remote 
native settlement at the present time. The dwellings 
were bungalows of two, three, or four rooms, of bam¬ 
boo frames, thatched roofs and sides, and supported 
high above the earth on tall pillars. “The Tag&- 
logs, Visayans, Pampangas, Pangasinans, Ilocanos, 
and probably other tribes, made use of an alphabet 
which can properly be called a Filipino national 
alphabet, inasmuch as with slight differences it was 
in universal use at that time, and was continued in 
use ... up to ten years ago .” 1 The alphabet was, 
historians tell us, composed of but seventeen letter's. 
Various formulas, songs, and chronicles were burned 
upon the arrival of the Spanish, otherwise a more 
detailed account of this interesting period might have 
been obtained. 

Evidences of contact with the outside world were 
numerous. In Tag&log the principal god was called 
Bathala, which is a word derived from the Sanskrit. 
The religion known throughout the islands (and 
which therefore might be called the national re¬ 
ligion of the Filipino people) consisted in the wor¬ 
ship of the souls of departed ancestors. Each family 
worshipped its own dead, who were supposed to 
have died in order to use their influence for the 

1 Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera, member of the Philippine Commis¬ 
sion, and an able historian of his race. 


AN INLAND SETTLEMENT 
Showing the slight effect of Spanish contact 














. 































































HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


139 


benefit of the living. When a noble died, it was 
the custom to sacrifice a certain number of slaves, 
that in his next life he might have a suitable retinue. 
Many Hindoo words were included in the dialects. 
The Spaniards found among the people much porce¬ 
lain and china ware. Commercial undertakings were 
well understood in Luzon and the Yisayan Islands. 
Companies for the transaction of business and the use 
of exchange, bonds, etc., were recognized. Money was 
unknown. Gold dust was a substitute, but barter 
was more common. Chinese weights were used. 

The Mohammedan invasion 1 had left a strong 
impression. The Spaniards found Moro cannon 
in Manila and three other cities. In Manila there 
was a foundry where cannon were cast, in charge 
of a skilled native foreman, who continued his trade 
under the direction of the Spanish after they oc¬ 
cupied Manila. 

The people cultivated the soil and harvested crops; 
their implements for the hulling of rice were practi¬ 
cally identical with those of the present time, though 
now modern machinery is coming into use. They 
manufactured articles from mother-of-pearl, and they 
made cutlery, spears, shields, and fishing imple¬ 
ments. They manufactured jewelry of gold, silver, 
and copper, and were expert in the art of weaving 
and the making of laces and embroideries. 

1 Moro (Malay) priests and pirates had already begun to visit 
Manila from Mindanao, Sulu, and other Mohammedan Malay 
settlements. 


140 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


When the Spanish came they found the inhabitants 
of Malay blood divided into town groups, each having 
its own government. The supreme governor of each 
community was a chieftain. Quite often different 
communities would unite and recognize some joint 
chieftain’s authority over them. The population of 
some of the communities, as observed by Salcedo, 
was as large as seven thousand. In all these com¬ 
munities slavery was an accepted institution. The 
slaves were divided into two classes, — prisoners of 
war, and those who were bought outright or given 
in payment of a personal debt. In addition to the 
slave class and the chiefs, there were the warriors, 
called in Tag&log macharlika. When any man of the 
village owed money, it was the custom to offer him¬ 
self as personal security, and serve as a slave to the 
creditor. Inasmuch as the system of hereditary sover¬ 
eignty had to be supported by warlike power on the 
part of the chieftains, each tried by all imaginable 
means to increase the number of slaves in his com¬ 
munity. Among the Tag&logs and Visayans it was 
customary for the rulers to form alliances and pacts. 

Such were the Philippines at the time of the 
Spanish acquisition. The bulk of the people were 
intelligent, but were practically slaves. Freedom 
of thought or individual liberty of action were not 
encouraged among the populace, until the establish¬ 
ment of American courts of law and the present 
American public-school system. 

The discovery of the Philippines by Magellan reads 


HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


141 


almost like a magic tale from the Arabian Nights. 
The exploits of Columbus and the adventures and 
conquests of Cortes, Balboa, and others, had fired the 
restless cavaliers of Spain with the desire for the 
glory and great wealth that were to be obtained 
across the seas. Ferdinand Magellan, the Portu¬ 
guese navigator, already famous, not being well re¬ 
warded by his king for his services, surrendered his 
citizenship and transferred his allegiance to Spain, 
at that time the jealous rival of Portugal. With 
Charles I. of Spain (the Emperor Charles V.) he 
signed a contract to seek the Moluccas or Spice 
Islands, declaring that they were within the limits 
of the Spanish domain. Magellan had already visited 
them, but the question of the right to conquer them 
was important, since Pope Alexander VI., in order to 
avoid disputes between Spain and Portugal, had given 
to Spain the right of conquest to the west of a meri¬ 
dian which was 100 leagues west of the Cape Yerde 
Islands; and the following year the dividing line was 
removed by treaty to a meridian 370 leagues west of 
those islands. To Portugal were allotted all lands 
lying east of this imaginary line. Magellan, by order 
of the king, set sail from Seville, August 10, 1519, 
seeking to reach the Moluccas by a western route. 
His voyage was full of adventures. On March 16, 
1521, he arrived at Homonohdn (one of the Philippine 
group) near Surigao. He touched at other islands, in¬ 
cluding Leyte, and arrived in Cebu Island. He was 
killed in Mactan, having taken up arms against the 


142 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


king of that small island. The survivors made the 
return voyage to Spain via the Cape of Good Hope, 
and thus first circumnavigated the globe. 

A second expedition, under Loisa and Del Cano, 
left Spain in 1524 and touched at Mindanao en route 
to the Moluccas. In 1529 the emperor abandoned 
his claim to the Moluccas, which thereupon became 
the property of Portugal. Little attention was given 
to the Philippines, as it was thought they were very 
poor. However, a friar of the Del Cano expedition, 
having recounted to the king the wealth he had seen in 
Mindanao, an expedition was inaugurated, but it failed. 

On November 21, 1564, an expedition set forth 
from Natividad, New Spain (Mexico), under com¬ 
mand of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, who was to be 
appointed Governor General for life of all lands he 
might occupy. It was only when he was upon the 
high seas and had opened the seals of the documents 
delivered to him that he learned that his objective 
point was to be the Philippine Islands and not New 
Guinea. On February 13, 1565, Legaspi arrived on 
the Island of Leyte, afterwards touching on Mindanao 
and Bohol, and on each island he formally took posses¬ 
sion in the name of Philip II. of Spain. On April 
27 of that year he arrived at Cebu, where he erected 
a fort and block-houses. On the first of June a small 
galleon was despatched to Mexico with information 
as to what had been accomplished. 

The colonists had no great difficulties in establish¬ 
ing themselves, although the inhabitants, remembering 


HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


143 


the repulse of Magellan, harassed them for a time. 
One of their early acts was the baptism of the daugh¬ 
ter of a native chief, who was subsequently married 
to one of the Spanish soldiers. The chief himself 
was later baptized, and amicable relations were es¬ 
tablished from that time on between the Spaniards 
and the natives of Cebu. In the next year two 
nephews of Legaspi arrived from Mexico with fur¬ 
ther reinforcements. 

Captain Martin de Goit6, accompanied by Juan 
Salcedo, a grandson of Legaspi, and a youth of great 
courage and ability, sailed from Cebu with ninety 
arquebusiers and twenty sailors for the conquest of 
Manila. On their arrival they found the natives 
intrenched behind strong breastworks at the mouth 
of the Pasig River. The attack of the Spaniards was 
resisted with twelve cannon. The defenders were 
routed and the cannon sent to Panay Island, where 
Legaspi had already established himself. 

On January 1,1571, Legaspi organized the Govern¬ 
ment of Cebu, naming governors, treasurers, munici¬ 
pal councilmen, magistrates, constables, secretaries, 
and police. On April 15 he set forth in person to 
take Manila, having been informed by his grandson 
Salcedo of its fine location and natural advantages. 
The inhabitants fled before him, but Legaspi won 
over to his cause the rulers of the newly conquered 
territory. On June 24, 1571, with all due solemnity 
Legaspi founded the city of Manila (then called by 
the Filipinos Maynila) and appointed to rule over 


144 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


it two alcaldes (governors), twelve councilmen, one 
alguacil mayor (chief constable), and other function¬ 
aries. A fort was erected on the present site of Fort 
Santiago, and battlements, as well as dwellings and 
churches, were built by the Spanish soldiers with 
some assistance from the Filipinos. The old Rajah 
Soliman of “ Maynila ” was baptized, the missionaries 
began to teach the gospel to the people, and Juan 
Salcedo and other captains set out on the conquest 
of the rest of the island. This was not a difficult 
matter, for although the word pacification, and not 
conquesta , was provided in the “ Leyes de Indias,” 
peace, of a truth, already existed. 

When Salcedo had set forth on his expedition 
throughout Luzon, his grandfather, Miguel Lopez 
de Legaspi, succumbed to the fatigues of his ar¬ 
duous life, leaving a name which will always main¬ 
tain a prominent place in Spanish colonial history. 
He was buried in the Augustine chapel of San Fausto 
in Manila, where hung the Royal Standard and the 
hero’s armorial bearings until the British troops oc¬ 
cupied the city in 1763. 

Juan de Salcedo had no great difficulties in bring¬ 
ing the people under the standard of Spain. When, 
upon the death of Legaspi, one Guido de Lavezares suc¬ 
ceeded to the office of Governor General, the entire 
archipelago with the exception of the Cagayan Valley, 
which surrendered shortly afterward, was under the 
authority of the Spaniards. It was a very different 
matter, however, to subjugate the Mohammedan 


HISTORY OF TgE PHILIPPINES 145 

Moros. The partial submission of the Sulu Archi¬ 
pelago to the Spanish sovereignty was not obtained 
until the end of the nineteenth century. Even since 
then the Moros, at times, have desperately combated 
foreigners. The fighting among these Mohammedan 
Malays, however, has been much confined to bandits, 
piracy and raiding being for centuries a recognized 
occupation on the part of the Moros. 

In 1574, whilst Juan de Salcedo was in the north 
of Luzon, everywhere establishing the territorial dom¬ 
inance of Spain and extending the spiritual fields of 
the Church, he received word that the colony was 
near extinction by the incursion of a Chinese pirate 
named Li-Ma-hong, who had been outlawed by the 
Celestial Emperor. The Chinese fleet consisted of 
sixty-two armed junks having on board 2000 sailors, 
2000 soldiers, 1500 women, and a large number of 
artisans, wherewith the Chinese adventurer, in line 
with the spirit of the age, dreamed to found a new 
kingdom. Salcedo, arriving opportunely from the 
region of the Ilocano people on the northwest coast 
of Luzon, easily routed and drove out the Chinese 
soldiers who had already entered the city. The salva¬ 
tion of the colony was attributed to divine interven¬ 
tion. Subsequently some of the Chinese junks were 
wrecked, and the Chinese escaping into the interior are 
said to have married among the Igorrotes. In 1576 
Salcedo died at Vigan, and his remains were trans¬ 
ferred to the ossuary of his illustrious grandfather, 
Legaspi, at Manila. 


10 


146 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


It would be impossible to give within the limits of 
a single chapter a chronological history of the Philip¬ 
pines from the days of Legaspi and Salcedo, when 
Spanish rule was first firmly established, until the 
present time. Having noted at some length the con¬ 
dition of the people at the coming of the Spaniards, 
and the romantic circumstances of the Spanish ac¬ 
quisition, let us content ourselves with the dates of a 
few notable events, and a brief review of the condi¬ 
tions and the spirit of the people up to the time of 
the American occupation. 

The following summarization should be of value to 
us in our further consideration of the spirit of Span¬ 
ish rule and the spirit in which this rule was accepted 
by the people: — 

Some Notable Dates in Philippine History. 

1521. Magellan landed at Butuan in the north of Min¬ 
danao Island; he raised the Cross on a small 
hill and celebrated Mass for the first time in 
the Philippines, taking possession of them in 
the name of the King of Spain. 

1564. Legaspi sails from Natividad, Mexico, for the 
Philippines, the expedition being joined by 
Augustinian friars. 

1571. Legaspi takes possession of Manila, establishing 
city government and erecting buildings. 

1598. Creation of the Archbishopric of Manila and bish¬ 
oprics of Cebii, Nueva Caceres, 1 and other cities. 
1606. Attacks by the Dutch. Destruction of Dutch 
fleet in 1610. 


1 Often spelled Neuva Carceres. 


HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 147 

1620. Moraga, a devout monk, obtains from Philip III. 
a pledge not to abandon the Philippines. 

1635. Foundation of fort at Zamboanga, Mindanao, to 
check raids of Moro pirates. 

1647. Thirteen Dutch galleons attack Cavite, destroy 
town, and reembark with Spanish in pursuit. 

1664. Regular communication with Acapulco, Mexico, 
established. 

1677. Missionary movements from the islands to China, 
Japan, and Siam. Martyrdoms of native mis¬ 
sionary priests. 

1700. By this time richly laden galleons from Philip¬ 
pines have long attracted the freebooters of the 
sea. 

1762. English squadron of thirteen ships and six thou¬ 
sand men under command of Brigadier Draper 
successfully invests Manila. 

1764. Arrival of despatches regarding treaty of peace 

with the English. Triumphal entry of Gover¬ 
nor into Manila after English evacuation. 

1765. Inauguration of direct communication between 

Spain and the Philippines via the Cape of 
Good Hope. 

1782. Tobacco monopoly established. 

1811. Publication of the first newspaper in the islands. 

1835. Opening of port of Manila and encouragement to 
agriculture. Board of Trade organized. 

1837. Organization of Bureau of Mines. 

1840. School of commerce inaugurated. 

1863. Creation of Minister for the Colonies. Earth¬ 
quake kills four hundred persons in Manila. 

1866. Prosperity of new era under representation in the 
Ministry. Reforms in penal code. Committees 
on agriculture and commerce. 


148 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


1871-1873. Arrival of General Izquierdo; his announce¬ 
ment that he intends to govern the people “with 
a sword in one hand and a crucifix in the other.” 
Workmen ordered to pay tribute and labor on 
public works. Consequent mutiny in Cavite. 

1873. Establishment of telegraph lines in various prov¬ 
inces of Luzon. 

1877. Philippines represented in Philadelphia Exposi¬ 
tion ; also in 1883 in Exposition at Amsterdam. 

1887. Commencement of the making of Manila and Da- 
gupan Kail way. 

1890. Telephone system inaugurated. 

1896. Growing dissatisfaction against Spanish rule, and 

personal ill feeling between Spanish Government 
officials and natives culminates in organization 
of revolution. Sixty natives suffocated in single 
Manila jail. Execution of the patriot Kizal. 

1897. Combined attack by six columns breaks revolu¬ 

tion in Bulacan Province. Reinforcements ar¬ 
rive from Spain. Battles in Cavite Province. 
Publication of amnesty. Executions of Fili¬ 
pinos continued. Aguinaldo and other leaders 
deported to Hong-Kong by Spanish. 

1898. Uprisings in Luzon. Aguinaldo’s proclamation 

that Americans were friends sent in advance 
of American fleet. Victory of Admiral Dewey 
over Spanish squadron in Manila Bay, May 1, 
1898. Blockade of Manila. Aguinaldo, intro¬ 
duced by American Consul-General at Singa¬ 
pore, is permitted by Admiral Dewey to land 
at Cavite with a view to cooperating on land 
with Dewey’s fleet. Arrival of American 
Generals Merritt, Otis, and Anderson, with 
reinforcements. 


HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


149 


June 23, Aguinaldo proclaims himself president 
of revolutionary government and commander- 
in-chief of army. 

August 12, protocol of peace signed. 

August 13, Manila surrendered and was entered 
by American forces. 

September 15, revolutionary government meets 
at Malolos and elects Pedro Paterno, prince 
of Luzon and aspirant to a Spanish duke¬ 
dom, as president of the Congress. American 
officials decline to recognize General Agui- 
naldo’s unrepresentative government, as major¬ 
ity of Filipino people are in favor of American 
rule. 

December 10, treaty of peace signed between 
United States and Spain. Islands pass to the 
United States. 

1899. February 4, hostilities inaugurated and American 

army proceeds against revolutionary army. 

1900. November 7, treaty for cession of islands not in¬ 

cluded in treaty of December 10, 1898. 

1901. Arrival of Philippine Commission. Organization 

of Federal party. 

1902. 1903. Era of rehabilitation. Freedom of thought 

and individual initiative guaranteed. Perfec¬ 
tion of American forms of administration. 
1903-1907. Constructive era, marked by great increase 
in general commerce; building of modern rail¬ 
ways commenced in 1906. September, 1906, 
transport ties up to docks, Manila being only 
port in Orient where ocean-going vessels can 
transfer cargo directly. 

As the reader has doubtless gathered, the ideals of 
the Spanish seem to have been to add new territory 


150 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


to the Crown and new fields for the Church. In¬ 
stances are rare of their having introduced innova¬ 
tions in the early days to benefit the people. But on 
the other hand, it must be observed, that cases of 
their having exploited the resources of the colony for 
their own benefit were few. Meantime the Church 
was everywhere busy erecting great cathedrals and 
baptizing converts. The labors of the devout padres 
were prodigious. Thus it happened that the Church 
steadily gained ill material power, and finally came to 
be the determining influence in the government of 
the Philippines. Often the ambitions of Church and 
State were clashing. Indeed, the religious conflicts 
in Spain seem to have been mirrored always in the 
Philippines. 

In commenting upon Spain’s restrictive rule, one 
must in justice recall the fact that the ideals during 
the height of Spanish power were contrary to those 
of the" present age. Manual labor was considered to 
lower one in social status, while the most beneficent 
aspiration, that of Christianizing a less developed race, 
was frequently clouded by the Inquisition. When 
at length the world emerged from its cruel religious 
struggles, the Spanish exchequer was impoverished, 
and the Government, whose attention was diverted 
from its great and fertile colony, allowed such latitude 
in the rule of the Philippine officials that the people 
were oppressed by them beyond endurance. In 1896 
the populace broke out in open revolt. 

It is not singular that, with her ideals, the efforts 



SPANISH ARCHITECTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES 

Public square, Bayombong, Nueva Viscaya — Church 
on Romblon Island — Cathedral, and part of 
shopping district, Nueva Carceres 















■** 


V 












HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


151 


of Spain were employed in the organization of admin¬ 
istrative systems for the Philippines; it is but nat¬ 
ural, too, that a policy of this sort, where the efforts 
of the rulers toward material development were few, 
should have resulted in restrictive rather than crea¬ 
tive administration. Yet the policies enunciated in 
Madrid were theoretically excellent, although they 
took little account of the Filipino people themselves. 
The Supreme Court was early inaugurated, with 
the purpose of giving justice to all. An expedition 
— the first — of Franciscan monks arrived in the 
Philippines in 1577. 

It is interesting to note the great growth of the 
islands in population since the Spanish conquest. In 
1591, but twenty-six years after the arrival of Le- 
gaspi, a census gave a total population of 667,612, or 
much less than one-tenth of the present population. 
This estimate was obtained through the repartimiento 
system, whereby large grants of land, villages, and 
even portions of cities were by royal grant awarded, 
with their native populations, to captains, soldiers, 
and others, with the right to collect the tributo. As 
each native family represented so much income to the 
Spaniard, it is probable that the repartimientos were 
pushed to extreme limits, and the estimate may be 
taken as full. The system, a characteristic institu¬ 
tion of Spanish colonization, was abolished early in 
the seventeenth century through the protests of the 
friars, although the policy was continued in many 
forms. For almost a century and a half after the 


152 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Spanish accession there was but little growth in 
population. The increase in the civilized population 
has been as follows: — 


Tear. 

1591 

Population (civilized). 

667,612 

Interval (years). 

Increase. 

1735 

837,182 

144 

169,570 

1800 

1,561,251 

65 

724,069 

1845 

3,488,258 

45 

1,927,007 

1903 

6,987,686 

58 

3,499,428 


The relation between the growth of population and 
the development of agricultural production is so uni¬ 
versally recognized as to demand no comment here. 

Early in the era of Spanish sovereignty all sorts of 
expedients were adopted to raise revenues. Privi¬ 
leges and franchises were indiscriminately allotted, 
and the Government itself controlled many enter¬ 
prises. The undertakings were not constructive, 
however, the purpose being to limit all trade to cer¬ 
tain profitable channels. For decades bat a single 
galleon plied between the Philippines and Mexico. 
Often, says a historian, a merchant wishing to ship a 
thousand dollars’ worth of goods in this galleon would 
pay as much as five hundred dollars for the privilege. 
Not only were all exports (other than those destined 
for China or Japan) required to be carried in Govern¬ 
ment ships, limited in number and capacity, but even 
the kind, quality, and value of the exported merchan¬ 
dise were defined. In 1785 the king authorized the 
creation of a company to which was given a mo¬ 
nopoly of all commerce and navigation between the 


HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


153 


Philippines and other Asiatic ports and Cadiz. The 
Royal Philippine Company, organized in 1733, ended 
its life in 1835 without having achieved either com¬ 
mercial profit to itself or lasting economic benefits 
to the islands. Not until 1835 was Philippine trade 
opened to the world, and ships other than those of Spain 
permitted to have a share of Philippine commerce. 

For centuries the colony had but little direct com¬ 
mercial communication with the mother country. 
The galleon trade with Mexico was brought to an 
end by the Mexican rebellion; and after the declar¬ 
ation of Mexican independence, August 23, 1821, 
direct commerce with Spain via the Cape of Good 
Hope was established. 

The year 1835 is an important date in the history 
of the islands: in that year the port of Manila was 
opened to foreign trade. 

The disaffection between Spain and her colonies is 
too vast a subject to be here dwelt upon. Suffice it 
to say that Spanish rule in the Philippines had tended 
to enrich the Church and Government officials enor¬ 
mously, while the condition of the common people 
remained stationary. The people were not consid¬ 
ered, and all manner of cruel tributes were exacted 
from them. 

The troubles which led to the Philippine revolu¬ 
tion began as early as 1871, when General Izquierdo, 
a new Governor General, enforced both tribute and 
labor for the accomplishment of public works. Cash 
payment would have settled the problem; and with 


154 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


a fair recompense for their work the people would 
doubtless have accomplished whatever undertaking 
was set before them. Owing to this order several 
uprisings, though with no apparently definite object, 
started at Cavite. Every one in authority, regardless 
of race, seems to have taken part in the exploitation 
of the people. 

“ The abuses committed by the encomenderos , the high¬ 
handed procedure of the mayors and treasury officials, 
as well as the oppression of the natives practised by the 
friars, caused uprisings among the people from time to 
time, . . . but these were promptly quelled by the strong 
arm of the Government and blotted out in blood and fire. 
Religious intolerance had also brought about conflicts of 
authority .” 1 

The state of discontent became greater day by day, 
but the people remained in ignorance of the real 
cause of their troubles. Dr. de Tavera observes that 
the work written by Dr. Rizal, a Tag&log, brushed 
aside the veil. “ It was a political novel in which 
were . .. presented in their true colors the sufferings 
of the people. The character delineations were all 
true to nature, from the young child to the old man, 
the obscure types of the lower classes, and . . . the 
cultured class.” The book was full of the poetry of 
nature, and “the attempt at caricature which the 
Spanish authors had always used in describing the 
people was eliminated.” The defects of the public 
administration, “the ignorance of the functionaries 

1 IIon.T. II. Pardo de Tavera, member of Philippine Commission. 


HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES 


155 


and their corruption, the vices of the clergy, the in¬ 
capacity of the governors,” were made manifest. 
“ The prestige which the friars had enjoyed — based 
only on the ignorance of the masses — crumbled 
away when the private lives and the immorality and 
viciousness of the friars were uncovered to the public 
gaze.” 1 

In short, Rizal’s book and his martyrdom precipi¬ 
tated the revolution in 1896. 

On March 6-9, 1906, occurred a desperate battle 
at Dajo Crater, on Sulu Island, between American 
forces and renegades. On this occasion, at which the 
writer was present, the entire native force, numbering 
between 1200 and 1400 Moros, were slain. This was 
the most complete defeat the Moros have ever suf¬ 
fered, and is, doubtless, the last large resistance to 
American arms which will occur in the Philippines. 

The events subsequent to the American occupation 
are matters of recent history. How Admiral Dewey 
defeated the Spanish squadron May 1, 1898; how 
the American forces were at first assisted by General 

1 We should not, however, fail to do full justice to the great and 
unselfish work of the friars. The unfortunate misunderstandings, 
which arose largely through the fact that the padres, being in inti¬ 
mate charge of the people, seem to have been naturally and inevita¬ 
bly forced to act as agents or mediaries for the Government, are 
explained in our chapter “ Christianity in the Philippines.” In all 
fairness it should be observed that the people required a degree 
of tutelage, and the remarkable labors of the friars in the islands 
corresponded with their administration in California, Mexico, etc., 
where fortunately the outcome was attended with no religious con¬ 
troversy, though the Californian Mission Indians perished when the 
friars left that State, then a Mexican dependency. 


156 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Emilio Aguinaldo; how the American Government, 
finding itself in possession of the Philippines, did not 
feel justified in leaving the people to the mercies of 
the revolutionary army which represented a minor¬ 
ity of the population, — these facts are all too well 
known to require recapitulation here. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Authentic sources to which the inquirer may turn are numer¬ 
ous, but mainly in the Spanish language. “ General History 
of the Philippines,” Vidal, Madrid, 1887. “ History of China,” 

Mendoza, 1586. “ Sanscrit Influence in the Tag&log Tongue,” 
T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Manila (in Spanish). “ Primer Viaje,” 
Spanish translation by Amoretti, Madrid, 1899. “ Archivo del 

Bibliofilo Filipino,” Manila. The earliest historical account 
of the Philippines, the “ Relacion de las Islas Filipinos,” was 
written by a Jesuit priest, Padre Pedro Chirino, and published 
in Rome in 1604. “ Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas,” Antonio de 

Morga, 1609. (This rare book may be seen in the library of 
Harvard College.) “ Historia General de Philipinas,” Juan De 
La Concepcion, 1792. (The great eruption of Taal Volcano in 
1754 is described on pages 345-350.) “ Historia de las Islas 

Philipinas,” Martinez De Zuniga, 1803. Translation in two 
vols. by John Maver, London. “ Kosmos,” A. von Humboldt 
(Philippines, pages 404-409). “ A History of the Philippines,” 

David P. Barrows, American Book Company, New York, 1905. 
(This is a book that we can especially recommend.) “ The 
Philippine Islands ” (1493-1898), A. H. Clark Co. “ Studies iii 
Moro History, Law, and Religion,” Najeeb M. Saleeby, Bureau 
of Insular Affairs, Washington, D. C. (This is of immense 
importance as showing the comparatively high grade of culture 
the Philippine Malays attained under Mohammedanism. The 
simplicity and justice of the Moro legal codes, often printed in 
strange dialects, refute the usual assertion that the Moros are 
“savages.”) “Travels around the Earth,” F. J. F. Meyen, 
Berlin. “ The Philippines and their People,” Carl Semper, 
Berlin. 


CHAPTER X 

AGRICULTURE 


Outline of Topics: Agriculture the leading industry — Fertility 
of soil, and diversity of products — Introduction of exotic staples — 
The planting of coco-palms by the Spanish padres—Petty farms — 
The farmer and his implements — Coffee-culture, chocolate, broom, 
sorghum, tapioca, potatoes, upland rice, rubber, gutta percha, hemp, 
pepper, oils, indigo — Live-stock — Government experiment farms — 
Progress in agriculture —Bibliography. 



,ICKLE the ground in these islands,” said 
an old Spanish padre, “and great wealth 
springs up from the soil ” 


Agriculture is and always will be the chief in¬ 
dustry of the Philippines. More than ninety per 
cent 1 of the people cultivate the soil; for a series of 
years the agricultural products exported have ex¬ 
ceeded in value ninety-five per cent of the total 
exports. 

Unlike Japan, where the soil is not naturally very 
fertile and where the small proportion of arable land 
is much overcrowded, the Philippines present vast 
unsettled and uncultivated areas. In many regions 
one may wander for days through extremely fertile 
country, rarely seeing a native. The soil consists 

1 The census (see Appendix) does not give so large a proportion 
as this ; nevertheless, it is true that almost all the population are en¬ 
gaged in agriculture. 


158 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


mainly of decomposed volcanic rocks enriched with 
decayed organic matter. It yields luxuriant tropical 
and subtropical growths, either indigenous or exotic, 
and many products of the temperate zone, embracing 
about three hundred fibre plants of either commercial 
or local value; food-producing plants grow in great 
variety and profusion, as well as plants yielding 
valuable gums, dyes, oils, and medicines. Tropical 
fruits such as the banana, mango, orange, alligator 
pear, and scores of others are produced with slight or 
no effort; while corn, small grains, potatoes, tomatoes, 
and many other vegetables commonly grown in the 
United States respond readily to cultivation. 

The agricultural products may be enumerated thus: 
hemp, sugar cane, tobacco, copra (dried meat of 
cocoanut), rice, com of many varieties, sorghum, 
broom corn, Egyptian corn, Kaffir corn, cotton, in¬ 
cluding both the long staple cotton of commerce and 
a species useless for spinning purposes, but used for 
cushions, etc., peanuts, grown both for oil and for¬ 
age, pineapples, the camotc (a species of sweet po¬ 
tato, and next to rice the most widely grown and 
important food-plant in the islands), indigo, American 
sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, nutmegs, cinnamon, 
pepper and other spices, cantaloupes, squashes, melons, 
castor oil, string beans and other beans, figs, black¬ 
berries, raspberries, strawberries (the last three in the 
higher altitudes), oranges of many varieties and some 
of exceptional flavor, almonds, marmalade plums, 
persimmons, pomegranates, tangerines, lemons, limes, 


AGRICULTURE 


159 


mangoes (the king of fruits), guavas, bananas (over 
fifty varieties, some of them unexcelled), cassava and 
arrow-root (both starch-producing), onions, garlic, 
asparagus, radishes, egg-plant, lettuce, cabbages, 
artichokes, endives, carrots, celery, parsley, gutta 
percha and rubber trees, rubber vines, millet, wheat, 
and forage grasses. There is an almost endless variety 
of native fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fibre plants, many 
of them extremely valuable. 

Most of the products enumerated above are those 
which have been introduced into the islands by the 
Spanish. As a rule the products of the South of 
the United States thrive in the Philippines; and the 
elevated regions, having the climate of the temperate 
zone, produce amazing diversity. In some regions 
cotton and peanuts have become almost pests that 
seem never to die out, while guavas, once imported, 
maybe found almost everywhere. Nearly all culti¬ 
vated agricultural products also grow wild. The only 
important exceptions are rice, sugar, tobacco, and corn. 
Enormous crops of copra and hemp are gathered from 
the wild growths. 

The success of the Spanish in introducing exotic 
fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural products, 
has induced the Government to carry on a variety of 
experiments. Many staples have been established, 
among them Egyptian cotton, yielding a superior 
commercial fibre. A pupil of Mr. Luther Burbank, 
the world-famous originator of new species of fruits 
and vegetables, is in the Philippines experimenting 


160 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


with the grafting and improvement of several varie¬ 
ties of oranges; especially is he concerned with the in¬ 
troduction of “ Mediterranean sweets.” His efforts, so 
far, are meeting with much success. Orange-raising 
is already a somewhat established industry in Ba- 
tangas Province. The future of orange-growing in 
various regions would seem to be most promising. 
Many of the wild varieties, although not commercially 
valuable, are exceedingly vigorous and make good 
grafting-stock. They are not troubled by pests or 
blight. The best native-grown oranges, which are 
unexcelled, bring very high prices in Manila. The 
most important crops in the Philippines are hemp, 
sugar, tobacco, and copra. As the future of the 
country and its people seems to depend largely on the 
cultivation of these great staple commodities, the con¬ 
ditions surrounding the cultivation and manufacture 
of hemp, sugar, and tobacco have been deemed of 
sufficient importance to entitle them to separate 
chapters. 

The coco-palm (cocoanut) is believed to have been 
exotic, but, like many other products, it has taken to 
the soil with such a degree of vigor that it is almost 
universally regarded as indigenous. The Spanish 
padres impressed upon the people the necessity of 
planting it; in Southern Luzon and elsewhere vast 
forests of coco-palms set in precise rows attest the 
foresight of the thrifty priests. Incidentally it may 
be observed that cocoanut-farming is a highly profit¬ 
able industry. From fifty to seventy palms are 


AGRICULTURE 


161 


grown to the acre, each tree yielding a yearly profit 
(net, there is little or no expense) of about one 
dollar (American currency). 

Agriculture is conducted on a limited scale. Twenty- 
one per cent of all the “farms” enumerated by the 
census comprise less than eighty-five hundredths of 
an acre. These small parcels of land are cultivated by 
their occupants and contribute in no small degree to 
their living. Probably the average farm is less than 
one hectare (2.47 acres); including the vast haciendas 
established by the Spanish, the friars, and other for¬ 
eign or mixed population, the average of all Philippine 
farms is only slightly more than eight acres. A num¬ 
ber of reasons may be assigned for the limited degree 
to which the soil is cultivated; one of these reasons is, 
doubtless, that the Filipinos are an extremely gregari¬ 
ous people. The isolated farm-house so familiar in 
rural sections throughout the United States is un¬ 
known. These people live in communities. This is, 
perhaps, not merely a social custom, but is in some 
measure due to an inherited instinct for mutual pro¬ 
tection against the robber bands that once rendered 
farm life in the American sense impracticable, while 
the great productiveness of the soil and the variety of 
crops that can be raised on a small piece of land have 
also contributed to limit agricultural development. 
The vast spaces of land between Filipino villages are, 
as a rule, wholly unpopulated and uncultivated. 

A Filipino farmer is industrious up to the point of 
supplying his wants, but not beyond that; and he 
11 


162 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


lives along the measure of his days in the locality in 
which he was born, with few interests or ambitions 
outside the limits of his village. He is honest and 
will never repudiate a debt, even if it be, as it often¬ 
times is, unjust. He is obedient; and he will usually 
believe what is told him if it be presented in plausible 
manner. For this reason he often gets into never 
ending debt to professional money-lenders whom he 
may spend years of effort to repay. He is always 
contented until his burden becomes unbearable; then 
he will follow any clever and unscrupulous agitator 
who comes along. His methods of agriculture are 
exceedingly primitive. The plough he uses was bor¬ 
rowed from the Chinese. It often consists of the 
forked stick or crotch of a tree, with an iron “ shoe ” 
three or four inches in length. He does not generally 
appreciate the value of wagons in transporting his farm 
produce, and clings to the crude carabao sledge. Yet 
he is open to conviction, and when once the value of 
better methods is impressed upon him by the success 
of others in using them, he will readily adopt agricul¬ 
tural machinery. Readers of the Manila papers were 
surprised a short time ago to learn from a carefully 
prepared statement that no less than 7,000 reversible 
disc ploughs had been introduced in the single province 
of Negros Oriental, and were being used by the native 
farmers there. One Filipino planter recently rented 
from the Government a steam plough, paying for the 
use thereof one American dollar an acre, an approxi¬ 
mate rental of forty-five dollars a day. Numerous other 



PEASANT WOMEN IN THE MARKETPLACE AT TUGUEGARAO 



THE FAMILY AND HOME OF A FARMER IN THE 
SETTLED INTERIOR 










. 





AGRICULTURE 


1G3 


instances might be given where the people have taken 
up modern labor-saving devices. In passing from 
this topic it may be observed that the Filipino farmer 
is a home-owner, and that eighty per cent of the farms 
in the archipelago are owned by their tenants. Only 
sixteen per cent of them are farmed out on shares. 

Coffee-culture is, we think, an industry that should 
attract the attention of American planters. Coffee 
was growing in the islands as early as 1808. In 1860 
its culture was taken up by an enterprising native 
governor of Batangas Province. The industry in that 
province grew rapidly. In 1883, after supplying local 
wants, no less than 16,790,000 pounds were exported. 
However, in 1889 a coffee blight destroyed the plants, 
the natives knowing no method of fighting plant para¬ 
sites, so that in 1906 $80,000 worth of coffee was 
imported. Much fine coffee is raised in the Philip¬ 
pines in districts unaffected by blight. This is par¬ 
ticularly true of the high mountain regions of 
Northern Luzon and around Lake Lanao, on Mindanao 
Island. The Benguet (Luzon) coffee is now being 
exported to Spain and China in considerable quanti¬ 
ties at high prices. Some is being sold in Manila, 
and is preferred to the best imported coffees. 

Owing to its fine quality the demand for Philippine 
coffee will always be greater than the supply. The 
variety in Batangas affected by blight was the Arabian 
coffee. In 1880 it was practically wiped out in Java, 
which as a coffee country resembles the Philippines. 
Java, through the efforts of the Holland scientists, has 


164 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


recovered from the blight. Near San Josd town, 
Batangas Province, is a grove of Liberian coffee, a 
variety that has never been affected by the blight. 
It is an equatorial species, and does not grow above 
one thousand feet in altitude. In Java, where it is 
grown in quantities, this variety brings eleven and 
three-fourths cents per pound wholesale. In 1903 
the Government introduced Brazilian coffee in Batan¬ 
gas Province, which is fruiting splendidly, although 
Arabian trees in the vicinity are infected. Under 
ordinary conditions a coffee plant six years old will 
yield at least three pounds of coffee of the most desir¬ 
able flavor. The trees are planted six feet apart. 
Igorrote labor can be gotten in Benguet for from 
five to ten cents a day. The people are strong, good- 
natured, and can be handled. Notwithstanding the 
poor treatment given to the drying of the berry, 
Philippine coffee usually has a marvellously delicious 
flavor and aroma. 

Another orchard industry that should appeal to 
planters is the cultivation of cacao (chocolate). The 
tree, originally introduced from Mexico, is cultivated 
in every portion of the Philippines except the highest 
mountain districts. 1 It seems to grow best in a hot, 

1 Unlike coffee, however, cacao is not a tropical cosmopolite. 
The trees will grow almost anywhere in the archipelago but will 
not produce profitably in many regions. Warmth, shelter, humid¬ 
ity, and equable, abundant rainfall are needed in a superlative 
degree to produce large fruiting pods of cacao. The requirements 
of cacao in the Philippines are restricted to the sheltered valleys 
of the eastern coasts from Southern Luzon to Mindanao. This area 
in the Philippines, and the African gold coast, are the only remaining 


AGRICULTURE 


165 


steamy climate. As a whole the cacao-tree needs 
more care than the natives give it, and though the 
Philippines are singularly free from the blights, mil¬ 
dews, and cankers that have played havoc in other 
tropical countries, it is a rarity to see a well cultivated 
orchard. The tree does not need any fertilizing, but 
unless the orchard is pruned and looked after, it 
rapidly goes into jungle. We have seen an orchard 
that has borne heavily for thirty consecutive years. 
Comparing the cacao orchards of the Philippines with 
those we have seen in tropical America, we should 
say the former are naturally more vigorous. 

The growing of broom corn, Kaffir corn, and sor¬ 
ghum, all of which have been introduced within 
the American occupation, will prove very profitable. 
The only region we have ever seen which exceeds the 
wonderful Imperial Yalley of the Colorado Desert in 
the production of these staples is in the Philippines. 
Owing to the success of broom corn a company has 
already ordered the machinery for com brooms and 
brushes to fill the local demand. Kaffir corn has great 
drought-resisting powers and is rich in nutritive qual¬ 
ities. Irish potatoes can be raised profitably in many 
sections, considerable quantities of them realizing 

regions suitable for any considerable expansion of the industry. 
The world’s requirements are above three hundred million pounds, 
and are yearly increasing, and the supply on hand would last but 
perhaps two months were production suddenly stopped. Philippine 
cacao, crude, untreated, and sun-dried, brings from one-fourth to 
one-third more in the local markets than the beautifully processed 
cacaos imported from Singapore, which supply nine-tenths of the 
demand. 


166 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the farmer from three and a half to six dollars per 
bushel. 

One should not assume that, because the islands 
can produce amazingly of many varied products, these 
will not command a good price. Take tapioca, for in¬ 
stance,— a most neglected source of wealth. The 
manihot plant, from which it is produced, grows 
around the door-yards of the native homes about as 
plentifully as flowers around American homes. But 
one never sees a plot even one-quarter or one-third of 
an acre in extent. The vigor of the plant is marvel¬ 
lous. If a cutting is stuck in the ground it will make 
a successful fight for life in conflict with weeds, 
drought, and neglect, and produce an excellent crop 
of tubers. About $1,700,000 worth of tapioca is im¬ 
ported annually into the United States. The crude 
product is worth $45 (gold) per ton. 

Upland rice requiring neither irrigation nor flood¬ 
ing could be cheaply and easily cultivated by a pro¬ 
gressive concern provided with mules and traction 
engines. The carabao could not compete with en¬ 
gines. Besides saving the importation of rice from 
foreign countries, laborers on the plantation could be 
supplied with their staple food, while the surplus 
would meet a ready market in Manila. It is of 
interest to observe that all countries which depend 
on rice raised by flooding are periodically visited by 
famine, with cholera usually following in its trail. 

The cultivation of rubber and gutta percha is an in¬ 
dustry that should, in time, be most profitable to the 


AGRICULTURE 


167 


islands. Rubber-trees, most of them untested varie¬ 
ties, are wild in abundance throughout Mindoro, Min¬ 
danao, and in parts of Luzon, the Sulu, and other 
islands. Two tested species and more than one dozen 
untested species of the wild rubber vine are common, 
being especially numerous on Mindanao and Mindoro. 
The Japanese Government is successfully treating 
some probably identical species on the island of For¬ 
mosa. Gutta percha, as is well known, is found in 
abundance in the Southern Philippines. The gutta 
percha used in marine insulation is more valuable 
than rubber, the best variety being quoted at $2.25 
per pound. 1 The exports of this product, as yet undo¬ 
mesticated, from Cotabato, Mindanao, have been for 
the several years recorded as follows: 


1902 . 328,000 lbs. 

1903 . 359,000 “ 

1904 . 236,094 “ 


With the complete restoration of peace conditions, 
shipments are increasing, and it is expected that 1907’s 
shipments will be very large indeed. Exports of wild 
gutta percha to the extent of 400,000 pounds have 
been recorded from Cotabato alone. The figures 
above given include wild rubber and gums of incon¬ 
siderable value at present. 

The favorable conditions for rubber-culture in the 
Philippines are evidenced by the amazing vigor with 
which trees planted by the Spaniards for shade pur¬ 
poses, as well as those but lately planted at the 

1 Quotation furnished by the Wm. A. Alden Company, of Boston. 





168 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Government experiment stations, have grown. We 
have seen a true Para rubber-tree in the Philippines 
that at fifteen months from the seed had attained a 
height of seventeen feet; and such records could be 
readily duplicated. 

Until late years it had not been proved that the 
domestication of rubber was profitable; but rubber 
cultivation has now passed the experimental stage. 
The recent sale in London of $74,000 worth of plan¬ 
tation rubber in a single day demonstrates that this 
new contestant for commercial favors is to be taken 
very seriously. Altogether, there are believed to be 
more than 100,000 acres of rubber in cultivation in 
the tropical world at the present time. More than 
70,000 acres are under cultivation in the Straits Set¬ 
tlements, where cultural conditions are very similar 
to those of the Philippines. Rubber cultivation, too, 
has been successfully undertaken in Java, as well as 
the domestication of gutta percha, a product that is 
limited to the Malay Archipelago. 

A bulletin of the United States Agricultural De¬ 
partment announces the conclusions of the Depart¬ 
ment that a large proportion of the rubber needed in 
America could be raised in the Philippines. No other 
country puts India rubber to so many uses as does 
the United States, which consumes one-lialf of the 
product. The total imports of crude rubber inj^o the 
United States during 1906 amounted to about sixty 
million pounds, valued at $50,000,000. The demand 
for the highest grade of rubber for automobile tires 


AGRICULTURE 


169 


has considerably raised the value of rubber, and it is 
believed that, notwithstanding the opening of new 
fields of supply, the time must come when there will 
be a real shortage of the commodity. To encourage 
the planting of rubber the Insular Bureau of Forestry 
introduced seeds from Singapore, which were planted 
at the experimental farm near Zamboanga. The aver¬ 
age growth of the nursery stock was eighteen inches 
in fifty days from planting the seeds. Young plants 
are available to settlers. Two plantations of Ceara 
and Castilloa rubber have been started on the island 
of Basilan, south of Mindanao. 

Worthy of attention is the cultivation of maguey 
or Sisal hemp, which is allied to the century plant. 
It differs from Manila hemp, which belongs to the 
banana family, and is but two-thirds as valuable. 
Considerable quantities of this plant have been in¬ 
troduced into the Philippines from Hawaii, and some 
from Yucatan, with much success. The Hon. Dean 
C. Worcester, Secretary of the Interior, and Mr. A. 
O. Zinn, also of the Insular Interior Department, have 
thoroughly investigated the merits of Sisal hemp, and 
are most enthusiastic. 

Maguey possesses some advantages over Manila 
hemp. It grows on a rocky soil where scarcely any 
other plant will grow. “ The plants grow well even 
in fissures in bare limestone rock. I have seen splen¬ 
didly developed maguey plants growing in pure beach 
sand on the coasts of Mindoro and Tablas [islands].” 1 


1 Dean C. Worcester. 


170 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


It requires absolutely no cultivation except when 
first planted. Even then the cultivation is prob¬ 
ably less than that needed for any other commercial 
product. It withstands prolonged drought admir¬ 
ably, the fibre not being at all affected by it; and 
being of a short and stocky nature it is not whipped 
by severe winds nor uprooted during hard typhoons. 
Moreover, it is economically treated by machinery. 
A thoroughly modern maguey stripping machine or 
raspador, with a capacity of 150,000 leaves per day, 
may be installed at a cost of several thousand dollars, 
while the old-fashioned machines that yield 100 
pounds of cleaned fibre a day may be had for one 
hundred dollars. Owing to the fact that maguey 
grows in the most unfertile regions, where the people 
must work to live, adequate labor can be secured. 
To-day there is not a province where some varieties, 
first introduced from Mexico, are not found growing 
wild. 

A pepper yard would prove a fascinating and remun¬ 
erative employment, furnishing a necessary mental and 
physical stimulus, without requiring any great exer¬ 
tion. Pepper affords wider opportunity for extended 
culture, on account of its more general use, than any 
other vegetable condiment in the Philippines. Com¬ 
mercial pepper grows splendidly, but is usually neg¬ 
lected. If cultivated with the same care that is 
devoted to the “ buyo,” a pepper widely raised for its 
leaves, which are used for chewing purposes, it is 
certain that in the third year every vine of the true 


AGRICULTURE 


171 


commercial pepper could yield twelve ounces of ber¬ 
ries and produce a net revenue of not less than $200 
per acre. 

There are many native products and vegetable 
oils, such as sesamum, which are consumed not 
only by the natives, but meet with a general market 
throughout the Orient. These could be most profit¬ 
ably raised and treated by American machinery. The 
sesamum, which is an oil seed, produces about forty- 
five per cent of a bland odorless oil much esteemed 
among Mohammedans, who are forbidden by their 
religion to use the fat of unclean beasts, such as the 
hog. It keeps excellently in the tropics and blends 
readily with other oils, while the residual cake is very 
valuable as cattle feed and as a nitrogenous fertilizer. 
Sesamum is cultivated throughout the country in an 
indifferent way, yet it thrives splendidly. The seeds 
are treated crudely. India last year exported more 
than <£1,000,000 sterling worth of sesamum oil, which 
was less than one-fourth the amount reserved for home 
consumption. A modem factory would undoubtedly 
pay in the Philippines. 

Indigo-culture at one time gained great proportions 
in the islands. Much was grown on the northwest 
coast of Luzon, in the region of the Ilocano people; 
and the large and substantial city of Vigan was almost 
entirely built up by the indigo trade. Owing to the 
adulterations of the product by the Chinese middle¬ 
men the reputation, and, consequently the demand, 
for Philippine indigo fell away. Natural conditions 


172 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


and its profitableness render the industry one well 
worth looking into. 

We have not mentioned any of the amazing 
varieties of valuable native fruits and vegetables, 
since the cultivation of these is not understood by 
the American who has not yet enjoyed a visit to 
the islands. It would require an inventory of al¬ 
most all the tropical and semi-tropical products of 
other countries, besides a long list of indigenous 
products peculiar to the Philippines, as well as of 
many temperate or semi-tropical growths introduced 
from Asia. 

The raising of live-stock has always been a consid¬ 
erable industry in the Philippines. In old Spanish 
days cattle were raised for their hides alone. The 
principal animals are horses, Indian and Chinese cows, 
— the latter of which compare with the cattle of any 
country, since for centuries their breeding has been 
the subject of much care by the Chinese, — carabao, 
sheep, swine, and goats. All live-stock, with the pos¬ 
sible exception of the carabao, has been introduced 
by the Spanish or the Chinese. Except sheep and 
goats, all are found wild as well as domesticated. 
The horses — probably introduced by the Spanish — 
are small, vicious, and wiry. They are but little 
affected by hardships and abuse, for the people have 
no idea of the proper treatment of a horse. Austra¬ 
lian horses thrive to some degree, but American 
horses seldom become acclimated. A cross between 
an American, Chinese, or Australian horse and a 



A COCOANUT GROVE 



BOATLOAD OF RICH FRUITS, SOUTHERN LUZON 




















AGRICULTURE 173 

native pony produces an excellent animal of both 
stamina and stature. 

Pony-racing is a popular diversion and some fast 
runners are exhibited. In the old days fights between 
stallions were often had, and a charge was made for 
admission. The carabao, or water buffalo, is essential 
in the boggy, inundated rice fields. This animal, found 
throughout the Orient, is extremely slow, and can be 
supplanted in most branches of agriculture. With 
proper quarantine measures the possibilities of stock- 
raising will become immeasurably increased, for the 
vast pastures of the uplands contain millions of acres 
of rich grass. 

The ravages of rinderpest, which in 1902 and 1903 
destroyed ninety per cent of the carabao, and of surra 
among horses at the same period, is comparable to the 
alarming spread of Texas fever among the herds of 
the South a few years ago. The Government is now 
instructing the people as to the quarantine of sick 
animals. On many small and isolated islands, as 
Romblon and the Batanes, a stock-raising group, no 
cattle were lost. During the pest a negro soldier, 
honorably discharged, quarantined 400 carabao at the 
headwaters of a mountain stream. He did not lose 
a single head. They advanced in value from $8 and 
$10 to $100 and $125 each. The carabao are now 
greatly increasing, and in a few years the supply of 
work animals will doubtless be as large as formerly. 

Next to agriculture in importance, from the view¬ 
point of persons actually engaged therein, are the 


174 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


fisheries; but including latent resources, the next to 
agriculture is perhaps the product of the forests. 1 
It should be here explained that many farmers are 
also fishermen. It is rare that a native in the prov¬ 
inces confines himself exclusively to any one pursuit. 

A useful work has been undertaken by the Govern¬ 
ment in the establishment of agricultural experiment 
farms, which, under the direction of practical superin¬ 
tendents, are scattered throughout the archipelago. 
The field embraced is varied. New and valuable 
plants, vegetables, and fibres are introduced with a 
view of testing their commercial value; indigenous 
products are improved; demonstrations are given of 
the use of farming implements and other mechanical 
devices ; valuable live-stock is imported and lent for 
the purpose of breeding with native stock. Provin¬ 
cial fairs, institutes at which skilled and practical 
scientists give free lectures in Spanish, and street 
parades and exhibits, are among the means through 
which the theory and practice of agriculture are ex¬ 
pounded. This work is bringing good results. The 
Filipino farmer in many sections is preparing to 
handle enormously increased crops ; and a great deal 
of credit for the progressive ideas which he has 
gained is due to the Bureau of Education for the 
establishing of agricultural schools. 

In many regions the native farmers are taking to 
improved methods and frequently adding to their 

1 Not much lumber is shipped, but the value of the standing 
timber is second only to what may be obtained from agriculture. 


AGRICULTURE 


175 


effectiveness. A native of Negros, a planter, whose 
carabao had died, recently purchased two petroleum 
motors. As it was late in: the season, he placed an 
acetylene gas lamp in front of each motor, and worked 
his ploughs continuously day and night, with shifts 
of men. Possibly this is the only instance on record 
where ploughing has been done by gaslight. The 
farmers of Panaqui in Tarlac, called the “ Kansas of 
the Philippines,” lately placed an order for two car¬ 
loads of modern machinery to swell the rice crop of 
the new branch railroad there. Complete outfits for 
handling rice have been shipped to Laoag, a seaport 
town in the extreme northwest of Luzon; and a 
small modern sugar mill is being built in Calasiao, 
in Pangasinan Province, where the native planters 
have also installed a steam thresher, a steam clipper 
for cutting the beard off the rice, and a newly in¬ 
vented hulling machine. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

For those who desire further information upon agriculture 
in the islands we especially recommend the annual numbers 
(in book form) of “The Manila Daily Commercial Bulletin.” 
These present in readable form an abundance of the most accu¬ 
rate and practical information obtainable. “ The Far Eastern 
Review,” a monthly also published in Manila, may be warmly 
recommended. Interesting, though frequently very technical, 
data and pamphlets may be obtained from the Bureau of Insu¬ 
lar Affairs, Washington, D. C., and the Bureau of Agriculture, 
Manila, P. I., which latter publishes special brochures devoted 
to the cultivation of the various products. The following, all 
issued by the Bureau of Public Printing, Manila, are of value: 


176 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Bulletin No. 59, being “ A List of Agricultural and Fibre 
Plants ,, ; Farmer’s Bulletin No. 3, “Modern Rice Culture”; 
Farmer’s Bulletin No. 7, “ Report on Introduction and Distribu¬ 
tion of Seeds and Plants ”; Farmer’s Bulletin No. 8, “ The 
Cocoanut Bulletin No. 5, “ Soil Fertility in the Philippines ” ; 
Farmer’s Bulletin No. 2, “ Cacao Culture ” ; Press Bulletin 
No. 6, “ The Tamarind ”; Farmer’s Bulletin No. 4, “ Commer¬ 
cial Fibres of the Philippines”; Farmer’s Bulletin No. 11, 
“ The Jute Industry”; Farmer’s Bulletin No. 1, “ A Primer on 
the Cultivation of Sugar Cane.” 

“ Cacao; a treatise on the cultivation and curing of Cacao,” 
by J. H. Hart; “ Coffee planting in Southern India and Ceylon,” 
by E. C. P. Hull; “Coffee, its Cultivation and Commerce in all 
Countries,” by C. G. W. Lock; “Le Tabac,” by A. Lauret; 
“ Le Cafe,” by Henri La Compte; “ Tropical Agriculture,” by 
H. A. Nicholls. “ The India Rubber World,” New York, is a 
standard monthly on all phases of rubber culture, trade, and 
manufacture. 


CHAPTER XI 

MANUFACTURES 

Outline of Topics : Manufactures in the modern sense unde¬ 
veloped — Household industries; the weaving of beautiful cloths; 
tobacco manufacture — Manila the manufacturing centre — Ship¬ 
building — Brewing — Modern factories in Manila — Native me¬ 
chanical industries : cigars and cigarettes; sugar; cordage; indigo; 
hats; iron foundries; machine shops, etc. — Aptitude of the na¬ 
tives as machinists — Percentage of the people engaged in various 
industries — Abundance of good coal — Gold and other ores — 
Bibliography. 

I NDUSTRY, as the Occident interprets it, is 
as yet almost undeveloped in the Philippines. 
Manufacturing enterprise has not progressed 
much beyond the making of those articles that supply 
the few and simple wants of the people. It has been 
practically confined to sugar, tobacco, copra, vege¬ 
table oils, indigo, and other agricultural commodities, 
and to the manufacture of such crude implements as 
have made even existing methods of agriculture pos¬ 
sible. Until the present era there has been little to 
awake the Filipino to the value of labor-saving ma¬ 
chinery. The restrictive policy of the Spanish, and 
their disinclination to permit the natives to engage in 
industry, have contributed to limit the needs of the 
people. 


12 


1T8 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Outside of Manila and one or two other large ports 
modern industrial plants are unknown. For centuries, 
however, household industries and the making of 
ploughs, ships, sledges, knives, etc., have prevailed. 
Cloth-making, the principal household industry, ante¬ 
dates history. When Magellan discovered the islands 
the natives had long been engaged in the manufacture 
and sale to foreign Oriental traders of cotton goods, 
cloths, and garments of all sorts, embracing many 
valuable and exquisite weaves of the distinctive 
Philippine textiles manufactured from Manila hemp, 
maguey, and pineapple leaf. The fabrics, we are told, 
were of much beauty in design and coloring, and pos¬ 
sessed a lustre rivalling that of silk. From times 
of great antiquity the Filipinos had bought of the 
Chinese traders silk yarns, which they introduced into 
their fabrics. 

A Spanish colonist, Don Francisco Urrez, in a report 
addressed to the directors of the Philippine Company, 
in 1802, thus pictured the condition of native industry, 
a description which is true to-day in many of the 
provinces : 

“ The Philippine Islands from time immemorial were 
acquainted with, and still retain, the species of industry 
peculiar to the country and adapted to the wants and 
needs of the natives. If an attempt were made to enu¬ 
merate the quantity of mats, handkerchiefs, sheeting, 
and a variety of other cloths manufactured in only a few 
of the provinces, immense supplies of each kind would 
appear, which give occupation to an incalculable number 
of looms indiscriminately worked by all classes in their 


MANUFACTURES 


179 


own humble dwellings, built of cane and thatched with 
palm leaves. They spin and weave without any other 
instruments than their hands and feet, aided only by 
the coarse and unsightly looms they themselves construct 
with scarcely anything else than a few canes and sticks.” 

The goods thus crudely manufactured, however, 
excited the admiration of travellers. Tom&s de 
Comyn, the Spanish historian, in his work, “ State 
of the Philippines,” written about 1810, says: 

“Their natural abilities in the manufacture of all 
kinds of cloth, fine as well as coarse, are really admirable. 
They succeed in reducing the harsh filaments of a palm 
tree [?] 1 to such a degree of fineness that they afterwards 
convert them into textures equal to the best muslins of 
Bengal. The beauty and evenness of their embroideries 
and open work excite surprise; in short, the damask 
table-cloths, ornamental weaving, textures of cotton and 
palm fibres intermixed with silk, clearly prove how much 
the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, in natural 
ability and dexterity, resemble the other people of the 
Asiatic regions.” 

Practically all the manufactories of modern type 
are in Manila. Raw products are readily transported 
from the provinces by the large coastwise fleets, and 
find in the capital city ready facilities for their con¬ 
version into manufactured goods. Since the American 
occupation factories have steadily increased, being sup¬ 
ported by foreign and by native capitalists, who seem 
to have been considerably stimulated through contact 

1 The historian probably had in mind some of the numerous 
native fibres, which, however, are not obtained from palm “ trees.” 


180 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


with American enterprise. To-day it is estimated 
that almost seventy per cent of all the factories, both 
crude and thoroughly modern, are located in Manila, 
while Cavite, a suburb but ten miles distant, ranks 
next in the value of its output. 

The chief industry is the manufacture of cigars, 
cigarettes, smoking and other tobacco; the product 
being twenty-five per cent of the total values of manu¬ 
factures. Altogether there are about twenty thou¬ 
sand tobacco operatives, more than half of whom are 
women. There are at least one hundred and eight 
tobacco-manufacturing establishments, of which the 
largest, located in Manila, employ many thousand 
hands. Wages have risen considerably since Spanish 
days: the daily earnings of cigar sorters have increased 
from forty cents to one dollar ; cigarette packers from 
twenty-five to fifty cents; cigarette makers from 
twenty to seventy cents; cigar makers from forty 
cents to one dollar. 1 A like increase is to be found 
in the earnings of practically all other workers in 
Manila, and to a great extent in other centres. The 
average salary of accountants has risen from fifteen to 
forty dollars per month ; iron moulders from 75 cents 
to $1.75 daily; saddlers from forty cents to one dol¬ 
lar; musicians from $1.25 to $2.50; brick-masons 
(foremen) from fifty cents to one dollar and others 
from thirty to fifty cents; while cabinet-makers now 
receive two dollars as against one dollar in Spanish 
times, — a foreman cabinet-worker receiving $2.50 per 
1 Census of the Philippine Islands. 



TYPES OF FILIPINO CHILDREN 

Girls of Tuguegarao smoking the huge native cigars — Igorrote boys 
operating a ferry — Cagayan Valley natives in home-spun 
garments — Cagayan children smoke their cigars 
























MANUFACTURES 


181 


diem. It is probable that these figures — which, of 
course, do not refer to the extremely low-priced field 
labor in the provinces, but to factory-work in the cities 
— have considerably risen since the census, for the 
workers rapidly increase in efficiency under expert 
direction; moreover, their wants are greater than they 
were in Spanish times, since every man may rise by the 
result of his own efforts, while the means of satisfying 
their requirements have been largely afforded them. 

Shipbuilding, which is carried on throughout the 
archipelago, ranks second. It is an industry in which 
the people exhibit a degree of mechanical skill. We 
have seen some unsurpassed native-built craft in the 
islands. The artificers are often said to be so very 
imitative that they will reproduce in the copy the de¬ 
fects existing in the model, yet this is not exactly 
true. It usually applies to the unskilled workmen or 
navigators, with whom a lack of experience has laid 
no basis for originality. The historian De Morga, 
whose description of the inhabitants, their manners 
and customs, w r as published early in the seventeenth 
century, mentions that “ there are many natives skilled 
in building any sort of ship,” and that many were 
skilled in carpentry. 

The brewing of liquors comes third, with a value 
of one-eighth of the total manufactures. A very large 
and successful brewery has been established by 
Manila capital since the American occupation. Beer 
is to be had throughout the archipelago, and is 
accounted more wholesome than stronger liquors. 


182 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Lumber mills with American machinery have been 
introduced; several are successfully operating in 
Manila. Other industries of importance are carriage, 
wagon, and furniture making; brick, tile, pottery, 
marble and stone work; iron founding, cutlery, edge- 
tool making, bookbinding, rope and cordage manufac¬ 
ture, tanning, trunk-making, watch-making, and repair 
work of various kinds. 

The native mechanical industries are mainly as fol¬ 
lows : manufactures of cloth, hats, mats, cordage, to¬ 
bacco, sugar, hemp, indigo, alcohol, oil, rice, soap, 
starches, cheese, leather, edge-tools, wagons, shipbuild¬ 
ing, building trades, and the fisheries products. 

The making of hats, mats, bags, sleeping mats, and 
so on, from the native fibres is the most picturesque 
of the industries. Manila hats are in every way equal, 
if not superior, to the celebrated Panamas. The best, 
which are woven under water, very fine in quality and 
of double thickness, cost ten to fifteen dollars, and 
would retail in America as high as one hundred dol¬ 
lars each. Of course, much cheaper hats are made, 
which are admirable and are worn by all classes. For 
generations the same families have made these hats, 
and have become marvellously expert; their knowl¬ 
edge may almost be said to be a trade secret. How¬ 
ever, these hats may not easily be secured in large 
quantities since there is no medium between buyer 
and seller, and the native weavers in hundreds of 
homes will sell them only upon cash payment. So 
poor are the facilities for marketing that in some 


MANUFACTURES 


183 


neighboring regions there may be a surplusage, while 
in others the demand is satisfied only by the importa¬ 
tion of a machine-made article. 

We have already mentioned the manufacture of 
sugar. On Negros Island and in Pampanga Province, 
Luzon, are many iron sugar-mills worked by animals, 
water power, or steam power. In Manila there is a 
large though not thoroughly modern sugar refinery, 
and another in Malabon, Rizal Province, south of Ma¬ 
nila City. The native manufacture of hemp, as well 
as rope-making, is of great importance; but the manu¬ 
facture of indigo for dye purposes has been, and 
probably again will become, a leading industry. The 
indigo plant thrives especially along the northwest 
coast of Luzon, though it undoubtedly will grow 
well in any part of the country. The dye is produced 
through several operations, — maceration in water, 
addition of lime, stirring and decantation of the water, 
formation of the indigo into masses. The young 
leaves of the plant are largely used. 

In Manila to-day are a number of modern machine 
shops and foundries, in which the entire work is sat¬ 
isfactorily performed by native labor. One of the 
finest establishments of the kind is owned entirely by 
native capital; and all the workers, clerks, and ad¬ 
ministrators are Filipino people. The young men 
become excellent marine engineers, and in the hand¬ 
ling and care of all sorts of machinery they show 
great facility. 

It is indeed a very difficult matter to give the 


184 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


percentage of the natives engaged in the various 
industries, for at some time most of the people are 
farmers, and at other periods of the year they are 
fishermen. Moreover, there is little cooperative work, 
very little use of machines, and little specialization of 
function. 1 

Manufactures in the Philippines will necessarily 
depend in the future upon the native supply of fuel 
and ores, which are abundant. 

Coal is found in very many regions. On the 
island of Batan immense deposits have been reserved 
by the Government. Engineers who have exten¬ 
sively investigated the fields there estimate the 
amount “in sight” as 76,000,000 tons, a supply 
capable of furnishing with fuel the present shipping 
for a period of almost four hundred years. It is 
believed, however, that the extent of the coal meas¬ 
ures will be found to be much greater as the mining 
progresses. Much of this coal is now being used in 
ships. As a steaming coal it is unsurpassed. It 
bums fifteen per cent faster than the best Japanese 
coal, but it leaves almost no ash, and no clinkers. 
The island of Polillo, off the east coast of Southern 
Luzon, contains even larger deposits than Bat&n 
Island. Outcrops were discovered here in September, 
1904, by Lieutenant Wray of the Philippine scouts. 
Several companies have been organized to develop 
the seams. Steam tests have proven very satisfactory. 
An analysis of this coal is as follows: 

1 See Table of Occupations in Appendix. 


MANUFACTURES 


185 


Moisture .... 
Volatile combustible 
Fixed combustible 
Ash. 

Sulphur .28. 


Per cent. 

. 4.7 
. 43.5 
. 50.1 
. 1.7 
100 


A large bed of bituminous coal has been discovered 
about seventy miles north of Zamboanga, Mindanao 
Island. Extensive samples were sent to New York 
for testing. The verdict, by cable, was: “A good 
steaming coal; burns freely.” 

The importance of this fuel for naval operations in 
the Far East is obvious. Without it our fleets would, 
in case of war, be dependent for their source of supply 
upon colliers or the generosity of a foreign power. 

Copper in quantities has been discovered in some 
parts. Marble, granite, lead, sulphur, kaolin, plati¬ 
num, petroleum, quicksilver, salt, nitre, mercury, 
asphalt, antimony, zinc, and gas, also occur in about 
twenty of the islands, — including the larger ones, — 
and are perhaps to be found in many little known or 
unknown regions. Quarrying and stone-cutting are 
considerable industries. An American firm employs 
from 700 to 1500 men at quarries at Mariveles, on 
the mouth of Manila Bay. 

Mining is an industry that bids fair to be of im¬ 
portance. For centuries the wild tribes have mined 
iron ore and forged spearheads and other implements. 1 

1 A recent issue of “The Engineering and Mining Journal ” is au¬ 
thority for the statement that a belt of magnetite forty miles in length, 






186 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

Streams, too, as in the Benguet region of Luzon, have 
been searched for nuggets and grains of gold. In 
this region the existence of a low-grade quartz ore 
has been established. The deposits occur in a solid 
formation of granite dike three-quarters of a mile in 
width, which cuts through the island northeast and 
southwest. At considerable expense Americans have 
recently established a stamp mill there, which is now 
running. The ore is treated with a free milling and 
amalgamating process, and runs about eleven dollars 
and forty cents a ton. 

Both quartz and placer gold have been discovered 

whose ores carry from sixty-five to seventy per cent of iron, extends 
through the mountains east of the great plains of Luzon. The rich¬ 
ness of the copper deposits, says this authority, is indisputable. 
Most of the native workings are located in Bontoc Province, some 
of the producing veins being seven metres wide, and carrying an 
average of sixteen per cent copper. From 1840 to 1855 twenty tons 
of manufactured copper, crudely extracted, were annually exported 
by the Igorrotes. Lignite coal occurs in large quantities. In Caga¬ 
yan Province, near Calbong Bay, outcroppings are plentiful. In the 
Bio Malanas Valley, near Abra Province, the seams are from three 
to seven feet thick. On Batan Island the seams vary from four to 
eight metres in thickness, and are easily accessible to the coasting 
steamers. The Compostela seams on Cebu Island are eight feet and 
more in width; the Compostela mines have furnished island steam¬ 
ers with considerable coal during the last decade, and a smelting 
plant is contemplated there. On Negros outcroppings are traceable 
for thirty miles parallel to and six miles from the southwestern 
coast. Coal has also been discovered in quantities on the islands of 
Leyte, Samar, Mindoro, and in the provinces of Rizal, Camarines 
Sur, Sorsogon, and Albay on Luzon Island. Lead ore carrying fifty- 
six per cent lead has been discovered recently in the island of Marin- 
duque. Gold exceedingly pure, brilliant, and of an average fineness 
of .958 is being washed from the river sands in Neuva Ecija 
Province. 



MODERN INDUSTRIES 

Loading tobacco bales at Lalloc on the Cagayan River — A 
modern steel steamer engaged in coastwise trade 
— Stevedores waiting to load a steamer 









MANUFACTURES 


187 


on the island of Masbate, where gold-dredging ma¬ 
chines of the Australian and Oroville, California, type 
have been introduced. This machine eats its way 
through the deposits of gold-bearing gravels, leaving 
a channel behind it, and deposits great heaps of de¬ 
tritus at the side of the canal as it burrows its 
way through the topmost strata. Quite a colony 
of miners is established on Masbate Island. A 
dredger working twelve hundred yards of gravel per 
day has averaged forty-two cents the cubic yard. 

The little manufactories with their few employees, 
equipped with more or less obsolete machinery, are as 
familiar to travellers in the Philippines as in Japan. 
Modern factories are increasing. One of the most 
important of these treats the cocoanut by machinery, 
stripping the outer husk, which is used for matting, 
drying the cojpra (meat of the cocoanut), and extract¬ 
ing the oils and essences. For these the demand in 
European countries, especially France, far exceeds 
the supply. They are used in the making of rare and 
costly perfumes and soaps; and it may be observed 
that the soap of the copra is the only soap that is 
freely soluble in salt water. 

The outlook for manufacturing enterprises in the 
Philippines would seem to be very bright, and the in¬ 
vitation to American capitalists is alluring. Not only 
is there an abundance of raw material and labor, but 
there is a great home demand, which even now pays 
the high prices caused by the exportation of the raw 
materials and the importation of the finished product. 


188 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Yols. II. and IY. Census of the Philippines. Reports 
(mining, etc.) issued by the Bureau of Public Printing, Manila. 
“Coal Measures of the Philippines,” by Lieutenant Chas. H. 
Burritt, formerly Eleventh Cavalry, U. S. V. “ State of the 
Philippine Islands,” by Tom£s de Comyn, Madrid, 1810; trans¬ 
lation by William Walton, London. “ The Philippines and 
Roundabout,” by G. J. Younghusband, London, 1899. A number 
of valuable monographs of recent date on Geology, Language, 
Plants, and Customs have been written by Dr. T. H. Pardo 
de Tavera. “ The Philippine Islands,” by Antonio de Morga ; 
translation by H. J. Stanley, London (Hakluyt Society, 
1868). “ Philippine Geology,’’ by Isadro Sainz de Baranda, 

former Inspector of Mines, Manila; and various up-to-date 
monographs by II. D. McKasky, Department of Mines, Manila. 
“Mines and Minerals in the Philippines,” an article in “The 
Engineering and Mining Journal,” New York, issue of May 4, 
1907. 


CHAPTER XII 

HEMP-RAISING 

Outline op Topics: Superiority of Manila hemp—The leading 
export from the Philippines — Rapid rise of the industry — Profits 
large; outlay comparatively small — Method of propagation — 
Prices of hemp land — Working on shares — Need of a machine 
to separate fibre from plant — Present method of stripping — 
Examples of successful hemp-raising — Bibliography. 

M ORE Americans have gone into the raising 
of Manila hemp than into any other Philip¬ 
pine industry. The reason is obvious: the 
establishment of a hemp plantation requires less capi¬ 
tal for a beginner than either sugar or tobacco. While 
the returns per acre are usually less than those result¬ 
ing from the cultivation of the other staples, yet the 
industry presents many advantages. With the excep¬ 
tion of copra (the dried meat of the cocoanut), hemp 
is the simplest crop in the Philippines. Indeed, a 
considerable quantity is gathered from the wild hemp. 
Moreover, hemp plants come into bearing much earlier 
than cocoanut trees, the time required from setting 
out being eighteen months to three years, according 
to locality and cultivation. 

Manila hemp, or abacd, is the product of the plant 
Musa textilis , a member of the banana family, closely 
resembling in appearance and habits of growth the 


190 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


common banana (Musa sapientum ), and the plantain 
(Musa paradisiacal . The Manila hemp plant bears 
a small fruit something like the banana, but of no 
economic value; on the other hand, the banana plant 
produces a fibre like abacd, 1 but lacking strength. 

Philippine hemp is superior to all known fibres that 
are used in the manufacture of ropes and cordage. 
The dbacd plant, too, enjoys the unique distinction of 
being strictly a Philippine product. “ The plant has 
been introduced into India, Borneo, the West Indies, 
and other parts of the world, but only in the Philip¬ 
pine Archipelago has the fibre ever been successfully 
produced as an article of commerce.” 2 The finest 
ropes for ships’ rigging and for oil wells, where it is 
necessary to lower heavy pipe thousands of feet 
beneath the surface, are almost invariably of Manila 
hemp; indeed in the latter case it is preferred to wire 
cables. Thus the hemp industry is of importance 
not only to the islands but to the whole world. In 
1905 the archipelago exported hemp to the value of 
more than $22,750,000 (American). This is more 
than two-thirds of the entire exportation of the 
islands. Of this amount over half, or $12,648,143 in 
American money, represents the hemp exports to the 
United States in the same period. Altogether there 
is probably an average of hemp worth $27,000,000 
now produced yearly in the Philippines, but some of 

1 The name “ abaca,” used in all parts of the Philippine Archi¬ 
pelago, is used to designate both the plant (Musa textilis) and the 
fibre, Manila hemp. 

2 II. T. Edwards, fibre expert, Manila. 


HEMP-RAISING 


191 


it is used for home consumption in the manufacture 
of cloths, ropes, and for other purposes. The weight 
of the hemp exported from the Philippines in 1905 
reached the enormous total of 256,756,000 pounds. 

The cultivation of Manila hemp is old in the Span¬ 
ish history of the Philippines. The first careful account 
of its use is that given by an Englishman named Dam- 
pier who lived on Mindanao Island in 1686. He de¬ 
scribed the “ banana textoria ” both as an edible and a 
fibre-producing plant. In 1820 a sample of abacd was 
brought to Salem, Massachusetts, by John White, a 
lieutenant in the United States navy. From 1820 to 
1827 the fibre began to be used quite extensively in 
Salem and Boston, It should be observed here that 
there are many other hemps besides the Manila hemp. 
Nearly all fibres have come into notice through their 
commercial uses; and as commerce and utility do not 
stop to inquire into scientific relationships, each fibre 
as it came into extensive use began to be known as 
hemp, qualified by the word signifying the place from 
which it came or the use to which it was put. There 
are bow-string hemp, Bombay hemp, Calcutta hemp, 
pita hemp, water hemp, and many others ; but Manila 
hemp produces cordage superior in length and strength 
to that made from any other fibre. So enormous, it is 
said, is the demand for Manila hemp that, were the 
production doubled, the price would probably not be 
lowered to such an extent as to render other hemps 
formidable competitors. A hemp plant which has 
been introduced into the Philippines with success is 


192 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

the maguey, a species of the century plant, and long 
raised in Mexico, Yucatan, and South America. It is 
adapted to many sections not suited to the abacd. 
Compared to Manila hemp it is inferior in fibre and 
brings two-thirds the price. Maguey thrives on a 
rocky soil where scarcely any other plant life will 
grow, and requires absolutely no cultivation except 
when first planted. Even then the cultivation is 
probably less than that needed for any other com¬ 
mercial product. It withstands prolonged drought 
admirably without affecting the fibre at all. A fuller 
description will be found in another chapter. 1 

The following table shows the gradual increase 
in production until the American occupation. Since 
that period the industry has gone ahead by leaps and 
bounds: 

Exports of Abacd from the Philippine Islands 


Tons 

1818. 41 

1825 276 

1840 8,502 

1850 8,561 

1860 30,388 

1870 31,426 

1880 50,482 

1890 67,864 

1900 89,438 

1907 (estimated). 130,000 


The new railroads will open up some of the richest 
hemp districts in the Philippines, and by far the richest 


1 Chapter X. on Agriculture. 












HEMP-RAISING 


193 


in the world. Many fine areas especially suited to 
the cultivation of Manila hemp will be rendered highly 
valuable through improved transportation facilities. 
Most of the hemp now raised is produced in the 
peninsula of Southern Luzon, in the provinces of 
Sorsogon, Albay, and Ambos Camarines. Increas¬ 
ingly large quantities, however, are raised on the 
islands of Negros, Samar, Leyte, Mindoro, Marin- 
duque, Mindanao and elsewhere. The industry sup¬ 
ports thousands of people. Out of thirty-five towns 
in Ambos Camarines, twenty-seven are supported 
solely by the hemp industry. 

The railroads to be constructed through these three 
provinces will connect rich interior regions with coast 
ports. Ultimately the lines will be extended to Ma¬ 
nila. Between the city of Nueva Caceres on the line 
of the main survey, and the port of Pasacao on the 
west coast of Southern Luzon, is to be built a spur of 
fifteen miles. The writer knows of one little planta¬ 
tion of less than 200 acres, mostly in hemp, near this 
spur, that without cultivation has supported six 
orphan children for the past eight years. Both the 
father, a Spaniard, and the mother, a Filipino lady, 
were killed by native ladrones (robbers) when the 
insurrection was first declared. The estate lies in a 
beautiful little valley in the low mountains. The 
plantation is now overgrown with weeds, and re¬ 
sembles a deserted estate in the Southern States 
after the Civil War. The valley in which it lies is 

a steaming, tropical bit of luxuriance. Hemp likes 
13 


194 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


a steaming climate, with light volcanic soil, abun¬ 
dant rainfall, and plenty of drainage. For, as is 
the case with sugar cane, stagnant water is often 
fatal to it. Huge moss-covered trees shade the hemp 
plants, while the forest valleys in the region sequester 
many little plantations. The six orphans of tins 
Spanish father and native mother are handsome, 
clean-limbed, gentle, olive-hued, patrician children. 
Until the death of the parents the estate paid net 
between $5,000 and $6,000 (American) yearly. Since 
that time, although it has not been cultivated and is 
practically overgrown with weeds and jungle, it has 
furnished funds to educate these orphans, the older 
children being sent to school in Manila. Besides, 
it has provided for them clothes,, servants, and a 
sufficient living. 

Hemp offers one of the best opportunities for the 
young man of limited means who is willing to live in 
the tropics. A young man with $4,000 or $5,000 
(American) may start out with great assurance of 
success. Although the climate is very tropical in 
some of the hemp regions, it is not so in all. More¬ 
over, the nearness of many fine hemp valleys to the 
seacoast enables one to live there within the pleasant 
and healthful influence of the ocean, and daily to 
supervise the estate a few miles in the interior. 

Of the Americans who have gone into hemp-raising, 
there are, doubtless, very few who have been provided 
with capital to the extent of $4,000 or $5,000. Prob¬ 
ably their beginnings would range between $500 and 



RIVER AND COAST VIEWS 

The Cagayan, largest river in the Philippines —Bamboo fishing-nets in 
eighty feet of water — River travel in Southern Luzon — 

On the Cagayan, sixty miles from its mouth—A 
beautiful portion of the Cagayan — Heavy 
wooded bluffs on the seacoast 







































HEMP-RAISING 


195 


$1,500. However, they are familiar with Philippine 
conditions, know how to “ get around,” and are accli¬ 
mated. Their numbers are made up of former gov¬ 
ernment employees, soldiers whose periods of service 
have expired, and perhaps a sprinkling of commercial 
or professional recruits from Manila. At Davao, Min¬ 
danao, about fifty Americans have gone into hemp¬ 
raising. In this they have been greatly encouraged 
by Major-General Leonard Wood, U. S. A., for two 
years in command of Mindanao, who has lent every 
assistance to pioneers. All through the islands, in 
fact, wherever conditions are suitable to abaca , you 
will find a few Americans engaged in the industry. 

The hemp plant does not require much care; it is 
not troubled by insect pests; after the third year, and 
often earlier, it produces commercial fibres, and thence¬ 
forward the product increases steadily. The only 
serious pests are the wild hogs, which in some dis¬ 
tricts are multitudinous. These animals eagerly attack 
the young plants and render fencing advisable. How¬ 
ever, they will be apt to avoid a plantation on which 
there is a lively pack of hounds. In the native (and 
usual) method of planting hemp there is no prepara¬ 
tion of the soil in advance. Ploughing the ground 
for hemp is infrequent. At the close of the dry sea¬ 
son, brush on the future plantation is cut, piled, and 
burned. The fire consumes all but the larger trees, 
which provide the shade necessary to the plants. The 
burning clears the ground of waste, destroys a por¬ 
tion of the seeds of weeds, and leaves an amount of 


196 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


ash, the potash salts of which furnish a valuable fer¬ 
tilizing material. 

After the land has been burned over, and before the 
beginning of the rainy season, the abacd shoots are 
set out at regular intervals, eamotes (sweet potatoes) 
being planted at the same time. The latter, soon 
covering the ground densely, hinder the growth of 
weeds. The young plants are set nine to twelve feet 
apart each way, according to the variety of hemp and 
the nature of the soil. This gives from 750 to 1,350 
plants to the hectare (2.47 acres). The ordinary 
method of propagation is from suckers. These are 
the small plants that grow from the root of the mother 
plant. They may be obtained on any large plantation 
at a cost of from fifteen to twenty-five dollars per 
thousand. Root sections are also used in setting out. 
Growing from seed is not favored, as it requires from 
six months to a year longer for the plants to mature. 

In planting, a large pointed stick is used, which dis¬ 
places the ground sufficiently to permit of the introduc¬ 
tion of the young plant and some expansion of the 
roots. Until the plants are from one to two years old, 
more or less regular weeding is necessary. Their 
shade then discourages the weeds, and weeding be¬ 
comes necessary but once or twice in a twelvemonth. 
Although hemp grows like a weed, it relishes cultiva¬ 
tion. It has been estimated that the profits of a well- 
cultivated hemp ranch will, other things being equal, 
be four times as great as those made by the methods 
now in use. When the land is thoroughly cleared 


HEMP-RAISING 


197 


and ploughed before planting, and the dbacd is set in 
straight rows, subsequent cultivation may be done 
with animals. Under these conditions one native 
laborer with a carabao can take care of twenty acres, 
at a cost of fifteen dollars per month. With thorough 
cultivation the growth of hemp is much accelerated. 

Land suitable for hemp varies in price. In Ambos 
Camarines Province the best hemp land can be bought 
at from six to ten dollars per acre. In Albay Province 
cultivated hemp land is held higher, — at from thirty 
to forty-five dollars an acre. Wages there are from 
twenty-five to thirty-five cents a day. Throughout 
the islands there is an abundance of public land suit¬ 
able for hemp-growing that may be homesteaded. An 
individual may take up forty acres, but by forming a 
company he may homestead 2,500 acres. 

The profits vary greatly according to the manner, 
not only of cultivation, but of extracting the fibre. 
At the present time the price paid for first-class hemp 
in Manila is from twenty-two to twenty-five pesos 
($12.50) per picul (137^ pounds). Owing to the 
increased use of binder and other twine, prices are 
much higher than formerly. Under ordinarily careful 
management, a yield of about seven to ten piculs an 
acre can be obtained. With 1,250 plants to the hectare 
(2.47 acres), and an average annual yield of four stalks 
per plant, the returns for one hectare would be 26.6 
piculs, or a rate of 9^ piculs per acre. The usual 
method of cultivation and work is on shares. The na¬ 
tive workmen are paid about one-third for stripping; 


198 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

that is, for separating the fibre from the plant proper. 
A moderate and reasonable estimate of the net profits 
of hemp cultivation, the way it is grown now, is about 
forty dollars American money an acre. The average 
liemp plantation owner probably makes a good aver¬ 
age of forty dollars an acre after paying all expenses 
of maintenance, labor, shipping to market, and inci¬ 
dentals. There are hundreds of native owners whose 
properties, being farmed on shares, they may them¬ 
selves see but once or twice a year, and who yet 
derive this income. Hemp is like so much gold; it 
has a steady market price, and is negotiable at any 
time. Under modern methods its profits per acre will 
rank next to those of sugar or tobacco, while the 
demands for cultivation are less; and many of the 
planters have risen to prosperity. 

The Philippine Bureau of Agriculture has prepared 
a statement as to the cost and the profits of hemp¬ 
raising. The estimate is moderate, for the Govern¬ 
ment does not wish to induce men to travel half 
around the world and then be disappointed. The 
figures are readily available. However, the equip¬ 
ment of fancy ranch u fixings,” and the building of 
an expensive house, barns, etc., are extras in which 
the average American will not indulge. The man 
who knows the country will hire a few of the neigh¬ 
boring people and have them construct a house and 
fencings ; for the wood from which the logs are sawn, 
and the bamboos, are always at hand. The Govern¬ 
ment estimates that at the end of eight years 625 


HEMP-RAISING 


199 


acres of hemp will have paid for itself and yielded a 
credit balance of $14,475. This estimate is based 
on a gradual planting, the last fifty hectares not 
being planted until the fifth year. The commercial 
life of the plant is about fifteen years. 

The hemp country of Southern Luzon is a fasci¬ 
nating region. Wherever one goes in the mountains, 
he is apt to stumble on some little, unsuspected, 
sequestered hemp plantation, hidden away like a 
moonshiner’s distillery in the Cumberland Moun¬ 
tains. In the mountains, in the lower and more 
populous country, — almost everywhere, in fact, you 
see the hemp fibre strung out in the sun on bamboo 
strips like a washing put out to dry. Some of it is 
twelve feet long. Wonderful fibres they are, like 
spun silver, even more delicate than the hair of one’s 
head, and with a silvery whiteness when drying that 
suggests the inside of a white sea-shell. 

Formerly the work in the hemp fields was done by 
hand, but a machine has been invented which strips 
the hemp, each machine performing the work of 
thirty men. Its use will revolutionize the industry 
and create a tremendous demand for the production 
of more hemp plants. 

It is interesting to see the workers on the hemp 
plantation during stripping time, which may last 
throughout the year, — an advantage, since it of¬ 
fers steady employment. The hemp plant when 
grown consists of a cluster of from twelve to twenty 
stalks all growing from one root. These stalks are 


200 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


in all stages of development, but usually two or three 
are ready to be cut at the same time. The stalk is 
easily cut near the ground with one sweep of the 
bolo ; the great top leaves are then lopped off. The 
“ log ” or trunk thus left is, say, eight to fifteen feet 
long and half a foot to more than a foot in diameter. 
This trunk consists of a small fleshy stem an inch 
or two in diameter, which is, as it were, the heart of 
the trunk, around which are a number of thick over¬ 
lapping layers, each layer being the stem of the petiole 
or leaf. 

The workman, seated on the ground with a trunk of 
dbacd across his knees, inserts a small sharp piece 
of bone or bamboo into one of the outside leaf-stems 
or layers of the trunk. He rips off from the layer a 
fibrous strip two or three inches in width and as long 
as the trunk. One layer will yield two or three such 
strips. Each consecutive layer is thus worked down 
to the heart of the trunk. The finest fibres are ob¬ 
tained from the layers nearest the heart of the stalk. 
The various strips are composed of soft fleshy matter 
from which the elastic strands are separated by draw¬ 
ing the sheath between a hard block of wood and a 
knife which fits closely upon it. The best fibre is. 
that from which all the fleshy matter has been sepa¬ 
rated, so that on being exposed to the sun it does 
not decompose, but looks like shimmering, shining 
silvery threads. 

Often the natives use toothed knives in separating 
the fibre from the fleshy part. These toothed knives 





THE MANUFACTURE OF HEMP 


A field of Manila hemp — Stripping the hemp — Removing the layers 
from the stalk —The layers ready for stripping — A ranch 
of sisal hemp — Hemp drying in the sun 

























































HEMP-RAISING 


201 


are easier to work with, but they do not strip the 
hemp clean. With such a knife the fibres are only 
partially separated, and only a portion of the pulp 
is removed; the work is easy, the yield large, and 
the fibre is inferior in quality. When fibre thus 
stripped is put in the sun it gets brownish, because 
some of the pulp clinging to it decays. With a knife 
having a smooth edge and held firmly on the base 
block, the work of stripping is much more difficult, 
and the waste is greater, but a very superior fibre 
is obtained. It has been determined by experiment 
that the same plant will produce a very superior or 
a very inferior grade of fibre, according to the kind 
of stripping-knife used. As a result of using toothed 
knives, the markets have been flooded with enormous 
quantities of inferior fibre. Now more care is being 
used, and the hemp comes from under the smooth 
knife clean and white. 

Abacd , after being stripped, is hung on bamboo 
poles to dry. This drying takes from three or four 
hours to two days. When thoroughly dry, the fibre 
is collected, tied up in hanks or bundles, and in this 
condition is shipped by ponies, carabao, or cargadores 
to the nearest market. It is there sold to a Chinese 
middleman or to the representative of some one of 
the large exporting firms of Manila. When the fibre 
reaches the warehouse of the exporter it is carefully 
sorted into the different commercial grades, and is 
then baled, each bale weighing two piculs, or 275 
pounds. Abacd fibre of good quality is from eight 


202 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


to twelve feet long, of a glossy white color, very 
light and strong, and of clean, even texture. 

An interesting stoiy of a pioneer hemp-raiser is 
that of Captain J. L. Burchfield of the Davao dis¬ 
trict, Mindanao, formerly of Madisonville, Kentucky. 
In December, 1899, he landed in Davao. His prop¬ 
erty, nine miles south of Davao, was the first in 
Mindanao to introduce American farm machinery. 
Since coming to Mindanao Captain Burchfield’s 
material wealth has increased tenfold. He owns 
an excellent plantation, has a comfortable home in 
the town of Davao, and has enjoyed as much health 
and comfort as during any period of his life. He is 
shipping eighty piculs of hemp a month, worth about 
twelve dollars gold per picul (one hundred and thirty- 
seven and half pounds), from his plantation. It is 
said that by the time of shipping the crop of 1906 
Captain Burchfield had paid all expenses of establish¬ 
ing himself, and had $25,000 profit. 1 Mrs. Burchfield 
went to Davao in April, 1901, making it her perma¬ 
nent home. There are now a number of American 
ladies in the district, who enjoy such good health and 
material comforts that they no longer feel that they 
are pioneers. Captain Burchfield has 3,000 cocoanut 
trees on his plantation. The cocoanuts yield from 
fifty cents to a dollar per tree a year when they are in 
full bearing. 

1 The author did not personally visit Captain Burchfield’s plan¬ 
tation but his profits as given are by no means exceptional — there 
are probably native plantations cultivated in a more or less hap¬ 
hazard manner which have done as well or better. 


HEMP-RAISING 


203 


A recent pioneer in this same region, Mr. A. C. 
McClellan, who came in May, 1905, has already about 
50,000 hemp plants growing. He estimates that 
this work has cost only $725. He has erected for 
himself a comfortable plantation house with commo¬ 
dious outbuildings; owns some good ponies and oxen, 
and lives much better than the average farmer in the 
United States. He does not carry firearms, although 
his workmen all go armed. Despite their wild looks, 
the men are peace-loving; they do not steal, and have 
always paid their debts. They raise their own fruit 
and vegetables. There are dozens of other Ameri¬ 
cans settled in the vicinity. 

Away up at Iligan, a little town on the north coast 
of Mindanao, lives Frank Shepard, who has a planta¬ 
tion there. Formerly a commercial traveller, Mr. 
Shepard served for eight months in the Cuban cam¬ 
paign. He resigned; and after starting up again in 
St. Louis, he took the war fever, went out to the 
Philippines in 1899, and served three years. In Oc¬ 
tober, 1902, Mr. Shepard went to Iligan. He put all 
his money into the countiy. He advises every one 
he talks with to invest. Mr. Shepard believes that a 
small capital is inadequate to expensive plantation 
purposes, owing to the fact that the initial expense is 
heavy, and that in the case of a product like hemp it 
is necessary to wait some time for the returns on the 
capital invested; but, when these returns do come, 
he says, they show a great percentage on the invest¬ 
ment, amounting, often, at the end of five years, to 


204 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


from eighty to one hundred per cent annually. He 
himself has a hemp plantation of 100,000 plants. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Not many general data are to be obtained on the subject of 
Manila hemp-raising other than through the Philippine Bureau 
of Agriculture, which has gone exhaustively into the subject. 
An excellent technical pamphlet, “ Abacd ” (Manila Hemp), by 
Mr. H. T. Edwards, a recognized authority, may be obtained 
from the Bureau of Public Printing, Manila. Data on the 
growing of maguey in the islands can also be had. The De¬ 
partment of Fomento, City of Mexico, will furnish information 
as to the growing of maguey (a member of the century-plant 
family often called sisal or agave , and known as henequin in 
Mexico) in the state of Yucatan, Mexico, where the growing 
of this fibre is of huge importance. See also Bulletin No. 5 
“ Philippine Agricultural Products and Fibre Plants,” and 
Bulletin No. 6, “Soil Fertility,” both issued by the Bureau of 
Public Printing, Manila. 


CHAPTER XIII 

THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 

Outline of Topics : Tobacco the most profitable crop — Intro¬ 
duced by Spanish missionaries and monopolized by the Spanish 
Government — Raised by compulsory labor — Oppression of the 
native workers — Great profits resulting from careful cultivation — 
Extensive introduction of modern implements by Americans —The 
Cagayan Yalley of Northern Luzon, where most of the tobacco is 
grown — Source of its great fertility — Excellence of Philippine 
tobacco — Rents and profits on small plantations — Crude native 
methods of raising and curing — The making and packing of ciga¬ 
rettes and cigars — Large consumption of tobacco by the natives — 
The huge family cigar — Dexterity of employees in the cigar and 
cigarette factories of Manila — Bibliography. 

T HE opinion is general that tobacco is the 
most profitable crop to the planter in the 
Philippines/’ 1 In point of commercial im¬ 
portance it is the third agricultural product, being, as 
elsewhere noted, exceeded in value by hemp and 
sugar respectively. So exclusively is a large pro¬ 
portion of the producing population devoted to these 
three industries that their wealth or poverty at any 
given time is to a great degree a barometer, as it 
were, of the prosperity or distress of the land. Aside 
from the commercial importance of the tobacco crop, 
its manufacture is of consequence ; no other industry 
1 Census of the Philippines, Vol. IV. 


206 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


has done so much to support the expense of adminis¬ 
tration in the past, and to-day no industry contributes 
more to the internal revenue. The internal revenue 
collected on cigars and cigarettes for the year end¬ 
ing June 30, 1906, was $2,539,711.75; the entire 
proceeds of internal revenue, for the period, being 

The manufacture of tobacco constitutes the most 
important industry in the islands. For many 
years an average of twenty thousand persons has 
been employed regularly in the making of cigars, 
cigarettes, and other tobacco products, while thou¬ 
sands of others pursue the industry in a more or less 
desultory fashion. 2 In character and modern equip¬ 
ment the tobacco manufactories of Manila compare 
with those of any place in the world. The fact that 
the growing of tobacco was under Government con¬ 
trol for more than a century lends a special interest 
to its history. A recital of the past of the industry 
not only involves a showing of the relative advan¬ 
tages and defects of the Spanish administration, but 
perhaps more clearly indicates the disposition of the 
people and the future possibilities of agriculture 
when under intelligent direction than any number of 
published opinions upon this subject could possibly do. 

The seed of the tobacco plant (A r icotiana tabacum) 

1 See statement internal revenue in Appendix. 

2 The Census gives “ cigarmakers ” as 11,036. The number of 
all tobacco operatives is about 20,000, the usually accepted estimate 
by Foreman and others; the number has not decreased since this 
enumeration was taken. 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


207 


was among the many novelties introduced into the 
Philippines from Mexico by missionaries soon after 
the possession of the colony by the Spaniards was 
assured. “ From this colony, it is said to have been 
taken, in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, into 
the south of China, where its use was so much abused 
that the sale of this alleged noxious article was for a 
long time prohibited by death.” 1 

The growing of tobacco was carried on largely un¬ 
der the direction of the Spanish priests in a some¬ 
what desultory manner until 1781, when, for the 
purpose of raising greater revenues, it was decided 
to extend to the colony the monopoly already exist¬ 
ing in Spain. The most stringent regulations were 
at once put into effect with the object of improving 
both the quantity and the quality of the export. 
For the student of economics, the tobacco monopoly 
is of interest, in that under a paternal government 
the people produced a better grade of tobacco than 
they since have. “During the last year of the mon¬ 
opoly —1882 — the Spanish Government sold first- 
class tobacco in Manila at $112 per quintal ” 2 (100 
pounds), an amazing price for this article in wholesale 

1 John Foreman. 

2 This was, of course, $112 Mexican, per quintal (100 lbs.). At 
that time, — 1882, —a Mexican silver dollar in the Philippines was 
probably at a parity with gold — one quotation of Mexican in 1885 
is 87 cents gold. (But we do not vouch for its accuracy.) From 
1876 to 1880 Mexican frequently reached ninety cents; prior to 
1873 it was at a premium. The best tobacco brought wholesale, 
therefore, more than one dollar per pound, a price rarely equalled 
anywhere except for wrapper leaf. 


208 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


quantities. Often the average price of all grades 
was about seventy-five cents a pound, and as much 
as 8,000 pounds to an acre was frequently produced; 
now the best grades bring only fifteen cents, and the 
production on such a hacienda as San Antonio of the 
Tabacalera Company, where the methods though by 
no means modern are an improvement over those of 
the native planters, is about 1000 pounds to the acre; 
on native estates it is usually a great deal less, 
though, of course, large productions are sometimes 
had. As a general rule it may be set down that the 
native production in the Philippines where the people 
are not or have not been in contact with foreigners, 
is just enough to support the farmer and his family, 
regardless of the character of the soil or the size of 
his farm. If the land is rich it means just that much 
less work. Conversely, where his land is not fertile 
and its area limited the native farmer is a prodigious 
worker. It should be observed here that the monop¬ 
oly was limited to the Island of Luzon; in the vast 
Cagayan Valley of Northern Luzon practically all the 
tobacco suitable for export is raised. 

The faults of the monopoly lay not so much in the 
system, but in the details of oppression under which 
it operated. It contributed much to the continuation 
of peonage or practical slavery; but on the other 
hand, it established the high reputation of Philippine 
tobacco throughout Europe and the Orient; it dis¬ 
closed the regions best adapted for the production of 
the finest grades of tobacco; and it instructed the 



PHASES OF THE LUMBER AND TOBACCO INDUSTRIES 

A carabao logging team at Dalupaon — A Spanish tobacco planter in his 
warehouse — Mahogany logs on the beach 










THE TOBACCO INDUSTBY 


209 


people in methods, at that time considered ad¬ 
vanced. But the provisions of the monopoly permit¬ 
ted great latitude to harsh and unscrupulous officials, 
who, aware of its opportunities for “graft,” sought 
Government positions. 

Compulsory labor was authorized, says a historian. 
Those natives who wished to till the land (the prop¬ 
erty of the State) were compelled to give preference 
to tobacco ; in fact no other crops were allowed to he 
raised. Each family was coerced into contracting 
with the Government to raise 4,000 plants per an¬ 
num, subject to a fine in the event of failure. The 
planter had to deliver into the State stores all the 
tobacco of his crop — not a single leaf could he re¬ 
serve for his private consumption. His right to the 
land was tenure by villein socage. 

A tobacco grower, in a letter to “ El Liberal ” 
(Madrid) in 1880, thus describes the situation: 

(t The planter was only allowed to smoke tobacco of 
his own crop inside of the aerating sheds, which were 
usually erected on the fields under tilth. If he hap¬ 
pened to be caught by the carabineer only a few steps 
outside of the shed with a cigar in his mouth he was 
fined two dollars; if a cigarette, fifty cents; and adding 
to these sums the cost of conviction, a cigar of his crop 
came to cost him $7.37£, and a cigarette $1.87£. The 
fines in one province amounted to an annual average of 
$7,000 on a population of 170,000. From sunrise to 
sunset the native grower was subject to domiciliary 
search for concealed tobacco; his trunks, furniture, and 
every nook and corner of the dwelling were ransacked. 

14 


210 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


He and all his family — wife and daughters — were per¬ 
sonally examined; and often an irate husband, father, 
or brother, goaded to indignation by the indecent humil¬ 
iation of his kinswoman, would lay hands on his bolo- 
knife and bring matters to a bloody crisis with his 
wanton persecutors. . . . The leaves were carefully se¬ 
lected, and only such as came under classification were 
paid for to the grower. The rejected bundles were not re¬ 
turned to him, but burnt,— a despairing sacrifice to the 
toiler! The oppression grew so great that riots became 
of frequent occurrence. Many Spaniards fell victims to 
the native resentment of their oppression.” 

Palpable injustice, too, was imposed by the Govern¬ 
ment with respect to the payments. The Treasury 
paid loyally for many years, but as generation suc¬ 
ceeded generation, and the native growers’ families 
came to feel themselves attached to the soil they cul¬ 
tivated, the Treasury, reposing on the security of this 
constancy, no longer kept up the compact. The offi¬ 
cials failed to pay with punctuality the contracted 
value of the deliveries, yet they required exactitude 
from the natives. Instead of money, treasury notes 
were given them, and speculators of the lowest type 
used to scour the tobacco-growing districts to buy up 
this paper at an enormous discount. The misery of 
the natives was so distressing, the distrust of the 
Government so radical, and the want of means of 
existence so urgent, that they were wont to yield their 
claims for a relatively small sum in coin. The specu¬ 
lators held the bonds for realization some day. The 
total amount due by the Government at one time 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


211 


exceeded $1,500,000. Once the Treasury was so hard 
pressed for funds that the tobacco ready in Manila for 
shipment to Spain had to be sold on the spot, and the 
90,000 quintals could not be sent, hence purchases 
of Philippine tobacco had to be made by tender in 
London for the Spanish factories. 

The profits of the Government on tobacco during 
the monopoly are thus estimated by John Foreman: 


Tear. Profits. 

1840 .$2,123,505 

1845 . 2,570,679 

1850 . 3,036,611 

1855 . 3,721,168 

1859 . 4,932,463 

1860 .over 5,000,000 


After 1860 they increased to a considerable extent, 
and at the time of the abolition of the monopoly they 
were paying over half the budget expenses of the 
Philippine Government, besides supporting an army 
of special officials who had been delegated to super¬ 
vise its workings. 

The hardships of the natives became so great that 
finally, in 1882, the Spanish Government gave ear to 
their complaints, and the monopoly was abolished. 

The profitable raising of tobacco with careful meth¬ 
ods is demonstrated by the success of various concerns 
that have been organized since monopoly days. In 
1883 a company, styled the General Philippine To¬ 
bacco Company (“ Compania General de Tabacos 
de Filipinas ,, ) was organized. It purchased four 








212 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


estates in the Cagayan Valley, of which the largest 
is the Hacienda San Antonio, 7,500 hectares (18,500 
acres). Upon this estate are 5,000 workers and their 
families. At the present time 2,000 acres is under 
cultivation, yielding annually 20,000 quintals of the 
finest tobacco. Some wrapper leaf, which it is 
claimed is unexcelled in the world, is produced. A 
hectare (2.47 acres) of tobacco is grown under shade 
for experimental purposes. Two enormous modern 
warehouses, each 36 by 60 metres, accommodate the 
yield of this plantation. 1 The General Philippine 
Tobacco Company, usually called the “ Tabacalera 
Company,” has become the wealthiest and most 
powerful of the corporations whose revenues are de¬ 
rived from the islands. Though the wealth of the com¬ 
pany was founded on the tobacco industry, it extended 
its operations to other industries, and at first lost con¬ 
siderable sums in the provinces in its unsuccessful 
attempts to compete with the shrewd British mer¬ 
chants. The company is now, however, on a firm 
footing, and maintains an agency in every town of 
importance in the archipelago, dealing heavily in all 
native products. Its equipment is enormous. Its 
huge tobacco warehouses in the Cagayan Valley 
cover many acres, and store hundreds of thousands 
of piculs 2 of tobacco. It is a major stockholder in a 
steamship line operating between the Philippines and 

1 These data were furnished the writer by Senor Orres, the 
manager, while on the plantation. 

2 A picul is 137£ pounds. 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


213 


European ports, and owns a fleet of eleven vessels 
engaged in inter-island freight and passenger traffic. 
Most of these steamers are thoroughly modern in 
equipment and construction. The capitalization of 
the company is $15,000,000, on which it is said to pay 
substantial dividends, notwithstanding the increas¬ 
ing scope of its operations. Its success in securing 
adequate and satisfactory labor disproves the asser¬ 
tion sometimes made that the insufficiency of labor 
constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to large 
agricultural enterprises in the islands. 

The bulk of the tobacco industry, however, lies in 
the hands of the native planters. In the Province of 
Cagayan are 147,000 inhabitants, of whom 23,000 are 
landowners. Counting five to the average family, it 
seems fair to assume that almost every farmer owns 
his own land. The same condition holds true of the 
Province of Isabela, south of Cagayan Province, 
which comprises the remainder of the Cagayan Valley. 
The condition of the few large companies, therefore, 
which are possessed of more or less thorough equip¬ 
ment, cannot form a basis for opinion as to the relative 
prosperity of the tobacco-raisers as a whole. To-day 
there are not half a dozen large firms engaged in 
tobacco production, superintendence, and trading. 
Of these, two are German and one is American. 
It is to be hoped that the latter is but the first of 
many American concerns to enter the tobacco field. 

As regards introducing modern machinery, or im¬ 
pressing upon the people the advantage of up-to-date 


214 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


cultivation for so difficult a crop as tobacco, the influ¬ 
ence of all but the American firm will prove negli¬ 
gible until American methods become thoroughly 
introduced into the valley. The Americans formed 
the first planting concern that has extensively intro¬ 
duced modern farm implements for its own use. 
These, including such as are used in Canada and the 
Western States, have been found to be suited to 
conditions throughout the Philippines. In the equip¬ 
ment of this American planting concern is a small 
sawmill, by which is cut the lumber needed on the 
estate, and found in the forest fringes along the 
estuaries. There is also a general utility traction 
engine, which is useful both in hauling ploughs and 
in furnishing power for other purposes. It takes a 
carabao five days to scratch over an acre of ground ; 
but the steam plough will cover two hundred and 
twenty-five acres in the same time, and at only 
one dollar an acre. There are twenty-six handle 
ploughs, adapted for either buffaloes or mules, both 
being used on the hacienda, but the mules are 
found six times faster. There are ten transplanters 
which simultaneously set out and water the young 
tobacco plants after they are taken from the seed¬ 
bed. Each of these transplanters performs the 
work of about thirty persons. There are thirty-one 
clod-crushing harrows, of the type used on the 
Western prairies of the United States. These re¬ 
quire no more pulling power than in more familiar 
regions, — perhaps less, for the soil in the alluvial 



ASPECTS OF PHILIPPINE INDUSTRIES 

Using a modern cultivator in gardening — Cotton float in an agricultural 
parade, Manila — Cocoa-plant, from which chocolate is 
made — Primitive ploughing in Moroland 



SB. 

























* 


■ 





. 











THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


215 


valleys of the Philippines is a light sandy loam, the 
combined product of disintegrated volcanic and de¬ 
cayed organic matter, easily ploughed, harrowed, and 
cultivated. In this connection it may be remarked 
that the estate is not raw ground, a considerable por¬ 
tion of it having been cultivated in tobacco, sugar 
cane, and corn, for generations past. 

No greater difficulty is experienced in cultivating 
the new soil than the old. In preparing the new soil 
for cultivation, the cogon , or wild grass, is burned off 
in the dry season, and the earth is then ready for the 
plough. In fact, in most of the alluvial valleys the 
question of brush is not one that the agriculturist has 
to contend with. The old soil, too, is as fertile as the 
uncultivated, since it is periodically enriched by the 
overflow of the Cagayan River. This estate, known 
as Hacienda Calabbacao, is nine miles south of Tugue- 
garao, the commercial capital of the Cagayan Valley. 
Once it was quite famous, but, like many other plan¬ 
tations, it gradually fell into disuse, and until the 
arrival of its American owners presented the appear¬ 
ance of many plantations in the South at the close of 
the Civil War. 

In the remainder of the equipment are goose-neck 
ploughs with four-horse hitch, wing shovel ploughs, 
barley and hay forks, spades, hoes, irrigating shovels, 
weeders, pulverizing ploughs, windmills, corn cutters, 
corn planters, brush breakers, potato hooks, full 
blacksmith and carpenter outfits, post-hole augers, 
and a duplicate of every important implement. The 


216 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

agricultural implements for this estate (44,000 acres) 
have cost to date upwards of $15,000. But a mate¬ 
rial saving was effected through their purchase in this 
country, an important point for the prospective agri¬ 
culturist to bear in mind, inasmuch as it results in a 
saving of about one-third the invoice. About half the 
estate is river bottom land, and about half higher or 
rolling land. The equipment, however, is found as 
suitable to one portion of the hacienda as another. 
An area of hilly land has been fenced off with barbed 
wire as a pasture. This is a useful object lesson, as 
the introduction of barbed wire would be a godsend 
to the people in securing quarantine of live stock. 
The arrival of the Americans on the tobacco field is 
but recent, their first crop having been harvested in 
1906. 

Of the two German firms, one having its principal 
warehouses near the city of Tuguegarao has been 
especially successful, its earnings being stated at 
from fifty to one hundred per cent per annum. Of 
two native companies one is said to have paid a divi¬ 
dend of thirty-two per cent, and the other of thirty- 
five per cent for the year ending June 80,1905. 

The above instances have assuredly demonstrated 
the profitableness of the tobacco industry when ca¬ 
pably handled; but it must be borne in mind that 
almost the whole of it is in the hands of small owners. 
Moreover, a proportion of the best leaf tobacco han¬ 
dled by the large firms is purchased from, or grown 
on shares with, the native grower who, lacking the 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 217 

means, has not been able to keep pace with the im¬ 
proved methods followed in other countries. To this 
reason is to be partly ascribed the deterioration in 
quality of the bulk of Philippine tobacco. With so 
perplexing a crop, indifferent methods inevitably pro¬ 
duce indifferent results. 

For 140 years Philippine tobacco has been exported 
to Spain, its use gradually extending to Belgium, 
France, Holland, England, Turkey, Egypt, China, 
and Japan. To-day it is sold, mostly in limited quan¬ 
tities, to thirty-five different nations. It is much 
favored in Eastern Asia, — for instance, in Japan, 
where Manila cigars, bringing on the average fifteen 
cents (gold) each, are everywhere displayed to the 
exclusion of all others, although the Japanese Govern¬ 
ment maintains a monopoly in the production and 
manufacture of tobacco within its own territory; 
and in China it meets with a large and increasing 
demand. 

Despite the high reputation which Philippine 
tobacco has achieved, and the constant demand made 
by the press of the United States for free trade with 
the islands, but little is known of the vast Cagayan 
Valley of Northern Luzon, where practically all the 
export tobacco, and probably nine-tenths of the 
factory-made tobacco that is consumed in the islands, 
is grown. That valley has long had an established 
civilization, but being little affected by the insurrec¬ 
tion it escaped notice in the press. 

At one time the writer took a six-hundred-mile trip, 


218 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


passing by divers and circuitous routes through the 
heart of Luzon. Striking the headwaters of the Caga¬ 
yan River, we followed its course to Aparri, the north¬ 
ernmost port of the island, and distant four hundred 
and eighty miles by sea from Manila. The Magat 
River, which is the principal tributary of the Rio 
Cagayan, flows through broad mountain valleys and 
gently elevated plateaus for more than one hundred 
miles in an air line before it joins the Cagayan near 
Echague, one hundred and forty-seven miles in an air 
line from Aparri. The volume of Philippine rivers is 
surprising, in comparison with their lengths. El 
Rio Cagayan seems like the Mississippi. At Tugue- 
garao city, sixty miles from its mouth, it is as wide, 
seemingly, as the Mississippi at St. Louis. But near 
its source in the mountains — not one hundred miles 
from Manila — the Cagayan is a gently flowing 
stream, which glides through green mountain mead¬ 
ows or goes creeping through dark forests, to emerge 
now and then from a steep and narrow canyon. 

Almost one-third the way down its course, at 
Echague, the Cagayan has become a great sluggish 
stream flowing through a huge plain sixty miles in 
width. Here is population. Hundreds of native 
women, clad garishly in red and yellow print-goods, 
crouch in the water at the river’s bank attentive to 
their washing. Fishermen are there, throwing huge 
circular trap-nets into the stream. Barangay , or iron¬ 
hulled, bamboo-covered freight boats, come creeping 
to the shores, awaited by a crowd, who would trade 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


219 


with the Chinese proprietors. They are really float¬ 
ing stores, for the Chinese have the confidence of the 
people and do much business with them. Farther 
down its course the stream goes swiftly. It winds 
around great bluffs, two or three hundred feet high, 
clad with trees resembling oaks. Again the valley 
opens out into a wide, level plain, where hundreds of 
workers are assembled in the fields. Often the river 
glides past some great forest, where troops of mon¬ 
keys perform innumerable antics as if for the amuse¬ 
ment of the traveller; while large white cockatoos 
and buffalo herons, disturbed by the approach of the 
steamer, circle in flocks over the water for a moment 
and return chattering to the dense shade of the 
forest. 

The Cagayan Valley embraces an average width of 
forty miles between the precipitous, purple-peaked 
Cordilleras that divide to make way for it, — lying 
generally north and south. The valley is one of the 
surprises of the Philippines. So many of the aspects 
of the temperate zone does it present, that one is in¬ 
evitably reminded of our Southern States, though it 
has true Philippine fertility. It is “ the richest agri¬ 
cultural district in the islands, where the agricultural 
possibilities for the future are almost unlimited. ,, 1 
Though the government discouraged the planting of 
anything but tobacco, there grow almost without 
cultivation the following: cotton, corn, sugar cane, 
sweet and Irish potatoes, beets, onions, peanuts, 


1 Dean C. Worcester. 


220 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


cocoanuts, guavas, fine oranges, — big as a man’s two 
fists, and having an excellent flavor, — and the luthu , 
a mealy native tuber much like a sweet potato, out of 
which is made a sort of flour. Many kinds of native 
fruits and cereals are grown. As a whole the Ca¬ 
gayan Valley is a huge, open, grassy, undulating, gently 
sloping plain, dotted here and there with groves of 
trees or with solitary trees, while the watercourses, 
estuaries, and tributaries are lined with fringes of 
bamboo and dense forests. Taken in detail the 
beauty of the valley baffles description. 

Apart from climatic conditions favorable to the cul¬ 
tivation of fine tobaccos, the fertility of the Cagayan 
Valley is largely due to the annual overflow of the 
Cagayan River, which occurs about the middle of 
December of each year, in the latter part of the rainy 
season. The floods at this period, together with the 
northeast monsoon which restricts the passage of the 
waters into the China Sea, cause the river to rise 
above its banks and to present the appearance of a 
huge inland sea. After a week or ten days the 
water subsides, leaving a rich fine mulch of the con¬ 
sistency of soft soap. 

The following quotations indicate the natural fit¬ 
ness of this valley for tobacco-raising: — 

“The enormous capacity for development of this 
valley of the Cagayan, which includes the provinces of 
Isabela and Cagayan, can hardly be exaggerated. It is 
a common thing for the natives to use their land seven 
or eight months of the year for tobacco, and then to 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 221 

derive two successful crops of corn in the four or five 
remaining months of the year. 

u When the Philippine Commission made a journey- 
up the Cagayan Valley in Luzon (1901), it was informed 
that practically all the 1 good land ’ was understood to be 
those parts fertilized annually by the overflow of the 
river. It was stated that the other land was not con¬ 
sidered first-class because it would only produce tobacco 
for ten or twelve years without enrichment, the subject 
of fertilizing never having received any attention from 
the planters of that region.” 1 

In speaking of the possibilities of tobacco culture 
the “ Official Handbook of the Philippines ” com¬ 
ments as follows: — 

“ The qualities which determine the price of tobacco are 
combustibility, strength, aroma, fineness, elasticity, color, 
and uniformity. Intelligent and experienced direction 
by practical men, with scientific aid in the matter of seed 
selection, instruction in cultivation, curing, and market¬ 
ing, such as will be furnished by the Bureau of Agricul¬ 
ture, will enhance the value and quality of Philippine 
tobacco until it will become second to none; for already 
the leaf from the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan com¬ 
pares favorably with that of the Vuelta Abajo district of 
Cuba.” 

It should be observed, however, that in quality 
and flavor Philippine tobacco is sui generis. It is 
not too much to say that as fine leaf has been and 
can be produced in the Philippines as anywhere 

1 Wm. H. Taft, in “ Pronouncing Gazetteer,” Bureau of Insular 
Affairs (1902). 


222 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


in the world. But it will not easily be mistaken 
for any other tobacco, though it perhaps more re¬ 
sembles that of Sumatra than that of any other 
country. It is a mistake to presume that, were 
Philippine tobacco to be introduced into this country, 
it would at once meet with universal approbation, 
for the preferences of the smoker are largely a matter 
of education. 

A. M. Sanchex, Soil Physicist, Insular Bureau of 
Agriculture, says: — 

“ The general character of the soils of the Cagayan 
Valley is a sandy loam, three feet or more in depth, 
easily cultivated and in good physical condition. 

“ The cultivation of tobacco in the Cagayan Valley is 
now limited to the ‘bottom,’ or lands subject to the over¬ 
flow from the back waters of the Cagayan River. Once 
or twice during the rainy season these low lands are 
flooded with several feet of water, which contains con¬ 
siderable quantities of fine sediment, rich in fertilizing 
matter, which from the standing water are deposited on 
the surface of the soil. No artificial fertilizer is used 
on tobacco lands. . . . 

“ In the Cagayan Valley the best quality of tobacco is 
grown on the light, sandy loam soils bordering the river. 
The product is a fine leaf, very suitable for wrapper. 
The soils are all bottom land, and are inundated at least 
once a year.” 1 

A common inquiry is, What profits may be made 
in the various industries of the Philippines ? To give a 
definite answer is obviously impossible, and is nowhere 

1 Government testimony. 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


223 


attempted in this volume, since no two planters, 
under equal conditions, will secure equal results. 1 
This difference is especially apparent in the low at¬ 
tainments of the poor native planters as contrasted 
with the achievements of foreign cultivators. An 
idea of the value of the commercial crops may be 
gathered from the fact that almost all are raised along 
the Cagayan and Chico de Itaves Rivers and their 
estuaries, beginning at Gattaran in the north and 
extending to a point beyond Ilagan in the south, a dis¬ 
tance of considerably less than one hundred miles in 
an air line. The production in this circumscribed dis¬ 
trict of practically all the export tobacco is a most 
favorable commentary on the results achieved even 
under present methods. 2 Statistics are unsatisfactory: 
some native planters accumulate considerable wealth; 
much of the population seems fairly well-to-do and 
prosperous, while others are extremely poor. The 
average family does not cultivate over one hectare 
(2.47 acres) of land. As the profits from this small 
plot keep the planter and his family throughout the 

1 We have made an exception in the case of hemp which requires 
little culture, and is not subject to much variation. 

2 In an address before the National Association of Manufacturers 
Hon. William H. Taft stated the average tobacco production on 
native farms to be but three hundred and ninety-five pounds to the 
acre. While we cheerfully accept this statement from such high 
and disinterested authority as absolutely conclusive, yet, on the 
other hand we are mindful of the fact that the export alone, valued 
for 1906, at $2,843,000 (gold) was produced in an exceedingly limited 
area, and therefore conclude that the general average was lowered 
by farms throughout the archipelago where tobacco is not raised 
for commercial purposes. 


224 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


entire year it is accounted very valuable. Farming 
on shares is much practised. “The labor system in 
the northern Philippines is quite distinct from that 
adopted in the south. The plantations in the north 
are worked on the cooperative principle. The land- 
owner divides his estate into tenements, each tenant 
being provided with a buffalo and agricultural imple¬ 
ments to work up the plot.” 1 This arrangement 
obtains in the plantations of the Cagayan Valley, 
in the hemp districts of Southern Luzon, and in the 
sugar regions of the provinces about Manila. In 
the Cagayan Valley the rental of the land (that is, 
of a small plot), the work of one carabao, and the 
work of one man are each accounted one-third. 
Therefore, if the farmer’s carabao dies and he rents 
a carabao of another, he gives that other one-third 
the crop; while if he owns neither land nor carabao 
he gives him two-thirds, retaining but one-third for 
his labor. Thus it will be seen how the loss of the 
carabao through rinderpest, the curtailment of the 
Spanish market, and the failure to open our own 
markets have affected the small grower in what would 
otherwise be for him an extremely profitable venture, 
despite the smallness of his operations. 

The cultivation-on-shares system may or may not 
be the outgrowth of peonage. In any event, though 
the latter evil was formerly prevalent in the Caga¬ 
yan, the shares system is not now abused. Peonage, 
too, is gradually becoming eradicated through the 
1 John Foreman. 



GROWING AND CURING TOBACCO, AND A NATIVE TREE 

A tobacco field in the Cagayan Valley — Loading tobacco on a banca — 
Tobacco plants six weeks after transplanting— Native 
method of curing tobacco — Red lanau tree, 
the pine of the Philippines 



























THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 225 

existence of American courts, and is almost unknown 
in most of the civilized regions. 

Tobacco is crudely cultivated by the natives. The 
following description by the Hon. G. Gonzaga, Gover¬ 
nor of Cagayan, will be interesting as being largely 
applicable to all methods of native agriculture : — 

“ Cagayan, situated in the extreme north of the Island 
of Luzon, enjoys a more temperate climate than the other 
provinces of the Philippine Archipelago. Surrounded by 
mountains covered with vegetation, and crossed in all 
directions by rivers and estuaries, there is maintained 
in the soil by the frequent overflows an accumulation 
of those fertilizing agencies essential to agricultural 
purposes. 

“ The plough used in the preparation of the fields is 
of Chinese model and origin, with narrow shares, shaped 
like wings, of a smaller size than those used in Europe. 
To this a carabao is hitched, the only work animal used 
by the Filipinos, perhaps by reason of its greater strength 
and endurance as compared with all other cattle of the 
country. In spite of this, the plough hardly penetrates 
the soil more than ten centimetres in making furrows in 
irrigated lands used for the cultivation of rice, while in 
dry lands and fields intended for tobacco the farmer 
finds it necessary to cross the ground three, four, or 
even more times, in different directions in order to 
turn the earth over to a depth of twenty-five or thirty 
centimetres.” 

Governor Gonzaga also mentions that the Spanish 
monopoly performed a useful function, in proving 
that the best tobacco may not be grown within the 

influence of the seas. Thus the suitable area begins 

15 


226 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


at Gattaran on the Cagayan River, about twenty-five 
miles south of Aparri. 

It is interesting to note how the native planter 
works. Usually he saves sufficient seed from the 
past year’s crop to plant his seed bed. This is done 
in the latter part of November or early in December. 
The plants in the bed grow very thickly, and when 
six or eight weeks old they are transplanted. Trans¬ 
planting on the high land occurs in the latter part of 
December or early in January, and upon the low or 
overflowed lands usually a month later. The young 
plants are set out a metre apart each way. 

It is a strange sight to see men, women, and children 
out in the fields planting and smoking at the same 
time. On a few of the farms the young plants are 
watered at the time of transplanting, and also shaded 
with sections of banana leaves; but not so on the 
plots of the native farmers. The plant attains matu¬ 
rity in about three months. As the leaves success¬ 
ively ripen they are broken from the stalk; this is, it 
is said, an improvement on the method followed in 
Connecticut, where the entire plant is cut. After 
being placed in bundles the leaves are hauled on a 
sledge to the dwelling, where they are strung up be¬ 
neath the floor on strips of bamboo, each strip con¬ 
taining from eighty to one hundred leaves. Here, 
among the minor live-stock, the tobacco remains until 
it is either sold for market or thoroughly dry, at 
which time the more intelligent native planters 
take it into the dwelling and pack it into bundles. 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


227 


The leaves thus cured are almost invariably damaged 
by the weather. A modern curing shed is practically 
unknown among the native planters. Frequently the 
leaf, which in texture and coloring is admirably suited 
for wrapper, is rendered all but useless by exposure, 
mildew, improper fermentation, or burning by sun. 
The natives do not observe the necessity of seed 
selection, the topping of plants to force the vigor of 
growth to the leaf instead of giving it to the stalk, 
and the removal of suckers or surface roots. This 
native method of curing tobacco is the cause of a 
greater deficiency in most of the crop than is the 
method of cultivation. We have repeatedly seen 
excellent tobacco exposed to the rain, and sometimes 
covered with a thick mildew that entirely concealed 
the original color of the leaf. 

The manufacture of tobacco is an important Philip¬ 
pine industry. In the more prominent establishments 
in Manila modern machines and methods are used in 
the production of cigarettes and cigars, and in their 
packing, boxing, and preparation for sale. More 
women than men are employed in this industry, 
and both men and girls possess a deftness with their 
fingers which is rarely equalled by one of the white 
race. Without counting, a girl operative will grasp 
invariably the required number of loose cigarettes and 
insert them in the package. 

The Filipino people are constant users of tobacco. 
By far the larger portion of the crop produced and 
manufactured in the Philippines is consumed at home. 


228 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


The total number of cigarettes manufactured and 
consumed during the fiscal year ending June 30, 
1906, was 3,509,038,750,—a greater consumption of 
cigarettes per capita than can be shown in any other 
country. This, added to the number exported, indi¬ 
cates the magnitude of the tobacco industry. Very 
large cigars, sometimes thirty inches in length, are 
smoked by the women of the Cagayan Valley. 

Tobacco-raising is an industry of many possibilities. 

“If the United States took all the Philippine cigars 
that are exported, it would add about one per cent to 
the total number now being manufactured and consumed 
in the United States. If all the cigars manufactured in 
the Philippine Islands were exported to the United 
States only, they would supply the natural increase in 
the cigar consumption for about five months, . . . after 
which the American cigar manufacturer would continue 
with all his old trade plus the regular increase of two 
per cent or more from year to year.” 1 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

“ Pronouncing Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary,” 
Bureau of Insular Affairs (1902). Reports of the Philippine 
Commission. Census of the Philippines, Yol. IY. “ The Phil¬ 
ippine Islands,” by John Foreman. Reports Insular Bureau 
of Agriculture, Manila, P. I., Bureau of Insular Affairs, Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. “ Soil Conditions in the Philippines,” by Clar¬ 
ence W. Dorsey, Bureau of Public Printing, Manila. “ Tobacco 
Leaf,” by Killebrew and Myrick, 1897. “ Tobacco Soils of the 

United States,” by Milton Whitney, Government Printing Office, 
Washington, D. C. “ Address by lion. W. H. Taft,” Press of 

1 Report of Philippine Commission, 1906. 


THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY 


229 


New York Chamber of Commerce. On the whole the bibliog¬ 
raphy of the tobacco industry in the Philippines, — excepting, 
of course, the statistics of the manufacture of cigars and ciga¬ 
rettes (in Manila) which may be precisely ascertained, — presents 
much confusion, largely owing to the discussions for or against 
free trade. For examples of opposing views by various au¬ 
thorities see “Hearings before the Committee on Ways and 
Means, Fifty-ninth Congress, First Session,” “ Hearings before 
Senate Committee,” etc., Government Printing Office, Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 

Outline of Topics : Immense productiveness of 1 imippine 
sugar plantations — Lack of modern refineries — Development of 
the industry after the Crimean War — Cost of producing sugar in 
the Philippines—Value of sugar lands — Troubles of the small 
native planters — Great capital an essential to successful produc¬ 
tion of sugar — The excellence of Philippine soil and climate for 
sugar-raising — Cane growing and crushing — Need of railroads — 
Great increase in the consumption of sugar in the United States 
— Sources of supply of sugar — Limited amount of public land that 
can be homesteaded by one company — General Leonard Wood’s 
opinion on the industry—Bibliography. 

T HERE are unusual opportunities for enter¬ 
prising Americans to enter the cane sugar 
industry in the Philippines. Perhaps no 
other country where large sugar areas are now avail¬ 
able has been endowed by nature with conditions of 
soil and climate so peculiarly adapted to the raising 
of this great staple product. In the future progress 
of the islands the sugar industry, it is generally be¬ 
lieved, is most certainly destined to become one 
of the most important commercial factors. “ The 
conditions for profitable returns are exceptionally 
favorable upon these islands; the climate cannot be 
surpassed, and cane soils are unequalled; there is an 
abundant water supply, and facilities for transportation 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


231 


by water are unusually good, while the difficulty of 
land transportation will be quickly overcome by the 
successful planter.” 1 

The importance of the sugar industry to the islands 
can hardly be overestimated; with the exception of 
hemp, it gives employment to more of the rural popu¬ 
lation than any other branch of agriculture. At the 
present time it furnishes all the sugar required for 
domestic consumption (though practically all the re¬ 
fined sugar used is refined outside the islands), and the 
surplus for export, which for the year 1905 had 
the value of $5,073,233. 2 Despite the importance of 
the industry to the people, their methods of cultiva¬ 
tion and of extracting the juice from the cane are 
extremely crude. As with tobacco, the fear has been 
expressed that should Philippine sugar be admitted 
with a reduction of duties, or duty free, into the 
United States, it would become a serious competitor 
to the beet and cane sugar industries in this country. 
A discussion of the question would obviously be in¬ 
appropriate in this volume; but it is not out of place 
to call attention to the fact that the crude methods 
of agriculture described in another chapter obtain 
specially in the cultivation of the cane. It is not 
generally understood how very inadequate are the 
present facilities for the manufacture of cane sugar. 
There is no large modern refinery in the islands. 

1 William S. Lyon, expert in tropical agriculture and member 
Insular Bureau of Agriculture in the Philippines. 

2 See Table in Appendix. 


232 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


The machinery even in the best mills is very primi¬ 
tive. In Luzon there is nothing larger than a three- 
roller mill, worked by carabao. In Negros there is a 
five-roller mill of a pattern of twenty-five years ago; 
all the rest are three-roller mills, and average a total 
loss of the juice of the cane of forty per cent. There 
is not a vacuum pan in the whole archipelago, and not 
one pound of centrifugal sugar is made. The cooking 
is done in a sort of old tureen which was used in other 
sugar countries about a generation ago, and which 
our New England farmers now use in the making of 
maple sugar. The sugar and molasses are boiled 
down hard and then beaten up with spades. Experts 
say that the crude sugar thus obtained contains so 
much glucose, ash, and dust that it is difficult to re¬ 
cover at the refinery the eighty-four per cent of sugar 
indicated by the analysis. When the native opera¬ 
tors have boiled the sugar down, it is wrapped in 
loose bags made of the cane stalks, and exported to 
Hong-Kong and elsewhere. 

Cane was introduced into the Philippines at an early 
date by the Spanish priests. That in the Visayan 
Islands, in Negros, in Cebu, and in some degree in 
others, came from Java ; while Tahitian, Mexican, 
and later Hawaiian cane, were planted in Luzon. 
Various species were imported by Chinese immi¬ 
grants from the island of Formosa, which was then 
under Chinese rule. The industry was intermittently 
pursued, however, for many years. It was not until 
1855 and the following year, during the Crimean 



CHARACTERISTIC SCENES IN THE PHILIPPINES 

A river scene—Type of home of the poorer civilized class — A native 
sugar plantation — Neglected sugar cane — Root system 
and part of trunk of the narra tree 




























THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


233 


"War, which involved England, France, and Russia, 
that attention was seriously called to the possibilities 
of cane culture. The price of sugar had risen to thir¬ 
teen dollars per picul of 137 J pounds. Owing to this 
incentive, cultivation of cane increased in the Visayan 
group and in Luzon, and was extended into many of 
the remote provinces. The industry was further 
stimulated by the opening of Iloilo and Cebu to in¬ 
ternational commerce through the arrival of Mr. 
Nicholas Loney of the English house of Loney and 
Company. 1 Mr. Loney, a pioneer now long since 
dead, gave great impulse to the development of the 
Philippines, and particularly to the Visayan Islands. 
His memory is still revered among the people there, 
and he is often spoken of as the original benefactor 
of the trading community of that region. It was due 
to his firm and the later American firm of Russell and 
Sturgis, that the development of sugar on a wholesale 
scale, under methods then modern, was made possi¬ 
ble. The pioneer native planters, unprovided with 
sufficient funds, exposed to many hardships, and 
lacking a knowledge of the use of agricultural de¬ 
vices, would have been unable to progress without 
aid. Both these foreign firms, however, advanced 
the planters funds for operating expenses and the 
purchase of machinery to such an extent that three 

1 Mr. Nicholas Loney, II. B. M. vice-consul, arrived in Iloilo in 
1855 and represented Messrs. Ker and Company. Through his 
efforts Iloilo was that year opened to foreign trade. He founded 
Loney and Company about 1858. He died in Iloilo April, 1869, and 
a monument is there erected to his memory by the natives. 


234 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


thousand plantations, large and small, were established. 
The industry reached a high degree of prosperity. It 
remained in good condition for almost thirty years. 
All these plantations, although many of them were of 
less extent than five hundred acres, were provided 
with sugar mills, the majority of which were operated 
by steam, and the balance by hydraulic motors and 
animal power. Some of them were provided with 
tramways for the transportation of the cane to the 
mill, and the manufactured product to the ports or 
market towns. 

In discussing the future of the agricultural indus¬ 
try of the Philippines, and consequently the future 
of the people, the fact that not only the cultivation 
of sugar and tobacco, but practically all industries, 
have reached their highest point when the native 
farmers have had encouragement and direction from 
foreign speculators, is a most hopeful augury of the 
results to be attained under American rule. Ameri¬ 
can equipment and methods of agriculture, it may be 
asserted without boastfulness, are everywhere recog¬ 
nized as the best in the world. Practically all the 
devices for economic and scientific agriculture, as the 
steam plough, the combined harvester, the modern 
sugar mill, the transplanter, and a great variety of 
implements, are of American invention. 

The methods that were introduced by foreign firms 
in the early period of the industry, however, did not 
advance with the times. With the disturbed condi¬ 
tion that some years after followed the zenith period 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


235 


of the sugar industry and the withdrawal of Loney 
and Company, and Russell and Sturgis 1 from the 
field, the cultivation of cane and the manufacture 
of sugar made no advance ; the old methods were 
gradually superseded by new ones in Java, India, 
Hawaii, and even lately in Cuba. 

Sugar has been produced in the Philippines at from 
sixty to ninety cents per one hundred pounds. It can 
doubtless, when produced by modern methods, be laid 
down in New York at a little over one cent per pound. 
As against this may be given the cost of producing 
beet sugar, the lowest cost being estimated by some pro¬ 
ducers in the United States at from three to four cents 
per pound. In the New York markets the average 
wholesale price of refined sugar has been, for the year 
1906, four and one-half cents per pound. The Philip¬ 
pine product may be brought from Manila to New York 
in steam vessels for from twenty-seven to twenty-nine 
cents per one hundred pounds, a freight rate com¬ 
parable to the rail-rate between Omaha and Chicago. 2 
The duty on this sugar to the United States is one 
dollar and forty-six cents per hundredweight. 3 The 

1 Bussell, Sturgis and Company, a Boston firm, failed about 1876. 

2 According to testimony before the committees on the Philip¬ 
pines of the United States Senate and of the House of Representa¬ 
tives. 

3 See Sec. 209 of Public No. 11, Government Printing Office, 
Washington, D. C. On all sugar which has gone through a process 
of refining the duty is one cent and ninety-five hundredths of one 
cent per pound; on sugars not above sixteen Dutch standard in 
color, testing by the polariscope not above 75 degrees, the duty is 
ninety-five hundredths of one cent per pound. Philippine duties 
are twenty-five per cent off the face of this schedule. 


236 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


approximately 7000 tons of crude sugar shipped 
into San Francisco from the islands during the first 
eight months of 1906 paid a duty of $213,249. Bear¬ 
ing these facts in mind, the Philippines seem to offer 
greater opportunities to capital than any other region. 
The fact that the sugar now brought into this and 
other countries is of inferior quality must not be off¬ 
set against the showing of possible cheap production, 
for the reason that it costs less to manufacture good 
sugar with proper equipment than inferior sugar with 
defective equipment. However, the establishment, 
maintenance, and superintendence of large planta¬ 
tions is not only a costly undertaking, but one 
which requires much time. Assuming that suffi¬ 
cient available sugar lands could be obtained from 
private parties, it would require decades, possibly 
generations, as it has in Java, to bring the islands 
to their highest sugar-producing capacity. It may 
be confidently stated that there is an unexcelled 
opportunity for the establishment of an up-to-date 
refinery in Manila, the bulk of the crop now being 
refined in Hong-Kong. There are also some of the 
finest sugar estates in the world available for modern 
plantations. 

As against the comparatively low values of cane 
sugar lands in the Philippines may be set the high 
values of lands similarly suitable in Hawaii and Cuba. 
All the large sugar lands in Hawaii are taken up. 
Many estates are valued at from $500 to $2000 an 
acre. In Cuba the best sugar land is valued at from 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


237 


$400 to $800 an acre, but is not for sale in areas great 
enough to support a sugar mill. Yet in the Philip¬ 
pines there are thousands of acres of the finest sugar 
lands. It is estimated that in Hawaii the cost of irri¬ 
gation and fertilization amounts to at least twenty per 
cent of the total value of the crop. It is necessary to 
irrigate practically every acre of Hawaiian sugar lands, 
and pumping plants are in operation on nearly every 
plantation. Not infrequently the cost of these plants 
varies from $250,000 to $500,000. 

The following estimate, made some years before the 
American occupation, for sugar-planting on the island 
of Negros, would still hold true in many parts of the 
archipelago, though as a rule, wages have risen: — 


4 overseers @ $6.00 per month each the whole year . $ 288.00 
40 laborers @ $4.00 “ “ “ “ “ “ . . 1920.00 

1 machinist @$30.00“ “ “ “ “ . 360.00 

1 assistant machinist @ $15.00 per month for the sea¬ 
son of three months. 45.00 

100 laborers @ $1.50 per week for the season of three 

months. 1800.00 

Food for laborers during whole time of service . . . 2000.00 

Total.$6413.00 


This relates to the total cost of the labor required 
for the cultivation of 420 acres of sugar land. 

In estimating the profitableness of sugar cultivation 
and manufacture, the distinction should be observed 
between the earnings of the native planters who are 
hampered with inadequate capital and obsolete ma¬ 
chinery, and those of modern concerns operating with 






238 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

the fullest equipment, a sufficiency of running capital, 
and systematic management. At the present writing 
most of the sugar planters in the islands are passing 
through a period of distress. Their unfortunate con¬ 
dition is to be ascribed to many causes, chief among 
which is that they are greatly hampered by lack of 
capital. The soil is producing $5,000,000 worth of 
sugar a year for export, even while the land is 
tilled as though in the stone age. Yet to a great 
degree the profits go to the money-lender, for the 
poor native owner has neither the cash nor the 
equipment to carry him from one season to another. 
He is always borrowing money on his crop, paying 
in sugar at least two dollars for every one that is 
advanced to him. This loan is not solely secured by 
his future crop; when borrowing the money he is 
compelled to make a contingent additional mortgage 
on his land, should the crop fail. It is impossible 
for the planter to evade paying his debt, since the 
loan is made payable in the crop and not in cash. By 
this means almost any law which could be framed 
might be evaded. Sometimes the native farmer 
through this system gives from one-lialf to two- 
thirds the gross value of his crop to the money¬ 
lender. 

To relieve the situation, the Government has passed 
an act authorizing the establishment of an agricul¬ 
tural bank from which the farmer may obtain the 
necessary funds at a reasonable rate of interest. The 
natural assumption is that the system of usury is to 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


239 


a greater or less degree the outgrowth of peonage 
common in Spanish days, but almost obsolete since 
the introduction of American courts and the instruc¬ 
tion of the natives that their bodies are not to be held 
in slavery for debt. Sugar plantations requiring a 
large amount of capital have especially fallen a prey 
to the usurer. The loaning of money at from twenty 
to fifty per cent is not uncommon. 1 These loans are 
made by the wealthy Filipinos to the poorer classes; 
for while the people are inclined to deal generously 
with their immediate circle of friends, there is little 
compassion on the part of the wealthy toward the 
peasant class. Practically all the Filipino capitalists 
are interested in non-industrial undertakings, in 
which management is of slight importance. Their 
money is loaned out at enormous rates of interest on 
Philippine farms; and the worse the condition of the 
farmer, the greater is the rate of interest exacted. 
Filipino native capital is generally invested in land 
and mortgages; it is very timid, and until the last 
few years has not engaged in constructive enterprises. 
The wealthy Filipinos, however, are not to be entirely 
blamed for the system. Often the native farmers are 
carelessly improvident, and then the risk is consider¬ 
able. On the other hand, so fertile is the earth that 
the earnings of these investments are frequently far 
greater than of those in more civilized communities. 
From these facts it is easy to learn why the sugar 

1 Indeed, money is sometimes loaned at as high a rate as one 
hundred or more per cent per annum. 


240 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


industry in the Philippines has not kept pace with the 
same industry in other countries. 

Sugar production is one which requires great cap¬ 
ital. To make sugar at small cost requires expensive 
machinery and appliances. The greater the invest¬ 
ment in suitable machinery, the smaller the cost of 
production. A modern refinery costs upwards of half 
a million dollars ; but sugar manufactories which are 
not properly equipped lose all the way from fourteen 
to forty per cent additional of the juice of the cane. 
The Philippines, lacking in these modern refineries, 
have been seriously handicapped in a manufacture for 
which they are so eminently fitted. To-day they offer 
excellent opportunities for capitalists. Formerly a 
tolerable refinery was established at Malabon, near 
Manila, but it is now discontinued. 

With the possible exception of tobacco, there is no 
staple agricultural crop in which the condition of the 
soil plays so important a part as it does in sugar-cane. 
The plant is one which, by virtue of its great size and 
rapid growth, not only draws heavily upon the fertil¬ 
ity of the soil, but it also demands that the earth shall 
be of a light character to permit full play of the root’s 
functions. These requirements are admirably met in 
many districts throughout the archipelago. In the 
sandy, sedimentary, alluvial soils along the sea coast; 
in the rich mountain valleys, heavily charged with the 
humus in which the cane rejoices; in the tropical 
forest regions; also upon virgin sedimentary river 
bottoms, the cane develops to a size and with a 



A SORGHUM EXHIBIT IN AN INDUSTRIAL PARADE 



A BAMBOO WAGON IN USE ON A TOBACCO PLANTATION 
















THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


241 


luxuriance that is phenomenal. Indeed, in some forest 
regions the remains of decaying vegetation are so ex¬ 
cessive that they are sometimes injurious. 

There is an almost unlimited quantity of virgin soil 
in the islands. By this it is not necessarily meant that 
the land has not before been cultivated. Within the 
tropics land that has once been cultivated and then 
allowed to relapse quickly reverts to its primitive 
condition, and in a very few years acquires a fertility 
which it would take a generation to accomplish in a 
more northern climate. The humus or decayed vege¬ 
tation which occurs in such abundance in the Phil¬ 
ippines is the one fertilizing agent most vital to the 
highest perfection of the sugar-cane. The quasi vir¬ 
gin land and the land that is naturally fertilized by 
the overflow of rivers seem to contain a proportion¬ 
ate combination of humus and mineral elements that 
offers an excellent food for the growth of a strong, 
vigorous cane, rich in the precious saccharine matter 
that crystallizes freely, and that always commands the 
highest price in the sugar markets of the world. 

The question of fertilization is one that hardly 
arises in the Philippines. Indeed, owing to the rich¬ 
ness of new soil in some districts, the cane has de¬ 
veloped with a speed prejudicial to its market value. 
Though in some sections fertilization could assuredly 
be most profitably employed by native planters who 
have cropped the same ground for generations without 
fertilizing, yet with the abundance of available land 
it seems to be considered unnecessary. The sandy, 
10 


242 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


sedimentary alluvial soils have longest stood the test 
of time. As before noted, many regions are naturally 
fertilized by overflows and therefore may possibly re¬ 
quire neither fertilization nor irrigation. 

Philippine sugar is grown by ratoons or root cut¬ 
tings. In some sections it is planted every other 
year, but frequently in alluvial soils planting takes 
place but once in every five, six, seven, or even ten 
years, though the crops are gathered annually,—pro¬ 
vided care is taken after the cane is harvested not to 
injure the stalk, and in the proper cultivation of the 
new sprouts or shoots. The cane is generally planted 
in ground that is sufficiently moist and well drained, 
and that has been well worked and prepared. On 
most plantations the cane is put in during November, 
December, and January, the same months in which 
the crowning takes place. The primitive methods of 
cultivation prevail. The plough, which is a crooked 
stick or the crotch of a forked tree, scarcely pene¬ 
trates the ground four inches; the harrow is of 
bamboo construction, with wooden teeth; a big 
bowie knife for cutting the cane, and a bamboo sledge 
for hauling it to the mill, complete the ordinary 
equipment. Sometimes the mill consists simply of a 
log set in a trough. This log is rolled against the 
cane and the juice slips into the bottom of the trough 
and falls out of a faucet into a receptacle below. Ex¬ 
cept in a very few cases sugar is generally sold as the 
crop is being gathered. In addition to sales made by 
planters in the producing districts, a large part of 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


248 


their sugar is placed in the hands of jobbers, who sell 
it at a higher price in the markets of Iloilo and Cebu, 
— ports that are open to general commerce, and as 
such having each a custom house. In these cities 
there are firms engaged in the business of buying and 
exporting sugar, the price being based on the law of 
supply and demand, as shown by market quotations 
received from the principal commercial centres of the 
world. The best prices are obtained in Iloilo and 
Cebu. 

The value of lands suitable for sugar-growing 
varies considerably, being dependent on proximity to 
a port or a sugar market, and on site, boundaries, 
quality of soil, facilities for drainage, etc. The best 
and most conveniently situated sugar land is perhaps 
worth as high as $100 to $150 an acre. These high 
prices, are, however, exceptional at the present time; 
frequently good lands can be had for almost nothing. 

The essential feature for the consideration of a 
grower who does not design to crush the cane himself 
is the accessibility of his farm to a mill. The measure 
of this accessibility will be determined entirely by the 
cost of transportation, which will depend on the con¬ 
dition of the existing roads, the cost of construction 
of new ones or tramways, or of the availability of 
waterways. Water freightage is so valuable a means 
of transportation that it can be utilized for the exten¬ 
sion of cane-growing into regions that otherwise could 
not be made available. This is particularly true of 
the great Cagayan Valley of Northern Luzon, where 


244 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


despite the almost exclusive attention given to tobacco, 
some especially fine cane has been raised for home 
consumption; and of the Cotabato Valley, Mindanao, 
where at intervals between the Moro raids early 
Spanish and Chinese settlers cultivated with suc¬ 
cess a superior quality of cane. 

A new interest is lent to the sugar industry by the 
building of the railroads. The railroads in the Visa- 
yan Islands, especially those to be built in Negros, 
will open up some of the richest districts in the world, 
and will give an added impetus to all lines of indus¬ 
try. The shipment of about seven thousand tons of 
crude sugar to San Francisco, during the first eight 
months of 1906, in the face of the high tariff, long 
haul, and primitive methods of cultivation is an in¬ 
structive lesson on what can be done in sugar produc¬ 
tion in the Philippines. With the coming of railroads 
and American enterprise a new era is at hand. If the 
islands can, as they did, export from 122,925 to 
261,519 tons yearly from 1880 to 1898, with only a 
few thousand acres under indifferent cultivation, with¬ 
out modern agricultural implements, with crude re¬ 
fining plants and disheartened working people, and 
with a loss of forty-five per cent of the juice, at a cost 
of only sixty-two and a half cents to ninety cents a 
hundred pounds, what may not be expected under 
labor-saving implements, modern equipment, Ameri¬ 
can capital, American energy, and American executive 
ability! 

Sugar-growing affords exceptional opportunities by 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


245 


reason of the world’s expanding market. Not least 
should be reckoned the fact that the islands, being 
connected with this country, are under the flag of 
commercial progress and freedom. The United States 
is the greatest sugar-consuming market in the world. 
Our consumption is so enormous — six and one-half 
billion pounds for the year 1906, and valued at over 
three hundred million dollars — that we can easily ab¬ 
sorb all the sugar which Cuba, Hawaii, and the East 
Indies can produce, plus the rather limited product of 
our own beet sugar factories, and still have room for 
all the output of the Philippines for many years. 

The demand of the United States for sugar is in¬ 
creasing at the tremendous rate of one hundred and 
fifty thousand to two hundred thousand tons a year. 
That this increase is supplied by foreign countries, 
may, perhaps, be inferred from the fact that of all the 
sugar consumed by us in 1906 only one-fifth was pro¬ 
duced in the continental United States ; one-fifth came 
from Cuba, Porto Rico, and Hawaii; and the rest — 
8,856,655,661 pounds — from foreign countries. Not 
only are we using more sugar with our increasing pop¬ 
ulation and a higher standard of living, but the entire 
world is rapidly acquiring a “sweet tooth.” The 
Orient with its nine hundred million people is follow¬ 
ing the footsteps of the Occident; and China, with 
four hundred millions of this nine hundred millions, 
takes far more Philippine sugar than the United States 
does. In fact, this country constitutes perhaps the 
most promising market. In Java the Dutch are giving 


246 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


great attention to sugar-raising, but they cannot 
establish plantations on a vast enough scale, with the 
limited land still available there for cultivation, to 
keep up with the prodigious demands of the world. 

“ In the last twenty-five years Louisiana has multi¬ 
plied her sugar yield by three. In the meantime 
Plawaii and Porto Rico have been added to the United 
States, with their production of substantially a half¬ 
million tons, to say nothing of Cuba, which has 
reached a production of one million, two hundred 
thousand tons, ” valued in its raw state at about 
seventy-five million dollars. This sugar was pro¬ 
duced from not more than four hundred thousand 
acres of land. The thirty American sugar planta¬ 
tions in Cuba are capable of producing one-third of 
the total output of that republic. Most of the Cuban 
sugar is imported into this country, in spite of the 
development of sugar in our own territory and in 
Hawaii and Porto Rico. The United States has more 
than doubled her importations in the past twenty-five 
years. 

“ Our consumption of sugar has multiplied by three in 
the same period of time. Let this increased consumption 
go on for another quarter of a century, and the home 
beet sugar crop may be multiplied by three, and the cane 
sugar crop of Hawaii, Porto Rico, and Cuba may be mul¬ 
tiplied by three, and still there would be room for the 
Philippine crop to multiply by sixty, and all come to the 
United States. It is true we need not expect our home 
consumption to increase threefold in the next quarter of 
a century, but it is extremely reasonable to expect it to 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


247 


double. Neither will any one acquainted with the Ha¬ 
waiian situation be found to predict one hundred per cent 
increase in output in twenty-five years or even in a hun¬ 
dred years. The land and water are not there to double 
with. Neither will Louisiana double her product in 
twenty-five years, and these two sources make up about 
two-thirds of the present domestic supply. If the con¬ 
sumption should double and the present domestic supply 
should double, there would still be need for three million 
tons of sugar from somewhere, or three thousand per 
cent more than the Philippines now produce. ” 1 

The consumption in 1896 was 4,390,592,640 pounds, 
and in 1906, 6,415,389,120 pounds, the increase in the 
ten years being 2,024,796,480 pounds. The produc¬ 
tion in 1896 was 647,635,520 pounds, and in 1906, 
1,304,607,360 pounds, an increase of 656,971,840 
pounds. The increased consumption in the ten-year 
period was 2,025 million pounds, while the increased 
production was only 657 million pounds. Thus the 
increase in consumption from 1896 to 1906 was more 
than three times as great as the increase in home pro¬ 
duction. The share which domestic sugar took in 
the total consumption in the United States was, ac¬ 
cording to the Bureau of Statistics of the Department 
of Commerce and Labor, in 1906, 20.5 percent; in 
1905, 21.9 per cent; in 1895, 19.4 per cent, and in 
1880, 16 per cent. 2 

Though the land suitable for sugar-raising in the 
Philippines is almost limitless, yet the bulk of it is 

1 W. S. Lyon, Insular Bureau of Agriculture. 

2 See Table in Appendix. 


248 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


public land. Under the present laws a corporation 
cannot get an absolute title to more than 2500 acres 
of such public land. This is not enough to run a 
modern sugar mill. In this connection General 
Leonard Wood says; 

“Corporations desiring to go into the sugar industry 
on a large scale are confronted with the difficulty of 
obtaining possession of a sufficient amount of land to 
insure successful business. Five thousand acres of 
public land is about all they can secure through lease 
or purchase under the present law. Ten thousand acres 
is what is required by a first-class large-sized mill to 
keep it running; in addition to this such a mill usually 
takes the cane from hundreds of small farmers for miles 
around.” 

The law does not alone restrict the amount of 
public land that may be acquired, — 40 acres in the 
case of individuals and 2500 acres to corporations, — 
for it expressly limits corporations by their charters 
to the acquisition of not more than 2500 acres of 
private lands. An exception is made to corporations 
that irrigate, and under this exception such corpora¬ 
tions may be organized as holding companies. The 
act does not apply to individuals or copartnerships, 
and these may purchase as much private land as they 
desire. The salient features of the land laws are to 
be found in paragraphs No. 14 and No. 75 of the Act of 
July 1,1902 (Public No. 235), generally known as 
the Philippine Organic Act. There is no doubt that 
these restrictive features have exerted a powerful 


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 


249 


influence in deterring capital from investment in the 
islands. Both the spirit and the provisions of the law 
are generally misunderstood. The object is stated to 
be to prevent speculative investments in Philippine 
lands, and while the acquisition of large quantities of 
public lands by any one concern is positively barred, 
yet seriously intentioned companies which will comply 
with the laws may, by reason of the exception men¬ 
tioned, acquire as much private land as is desired, 
provided they place their tracts under irrigation, 
which is as profitable in the Philippines as elsewhere. 
Of course the extent of private land is comparatively 
limited, though the 400,000 acres of the fine friar 
lands purchased by the Government are classified as 
private lands. 

However, numerous excellent haciendas are to be 
purchased in the sugar regions. Many plantation- 
owners would be glad to sell out or to take inter¬ 
ests in up-to-date concerns with modern machinery, 
modern management, and modern methods. Already 
numerous estates have been improved in anticipation 
of the coming commercial era of the Philippines, the 
beginnings of which are already being beneficially felt. 
Even without free trade, there is a vast market in the 
Orient, Australia, and Europe for Philippine sugar. 
While the United States offers opportunities for well- 
organized concerns, raw sugar, it has been asserted, 
can be laid down in New York and San Francisco, 
duty paid, for less than $2.35 per hundred pounds, or 
less than two-thirds what it costs to raise it in foreign 


250 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Cuba. With the economically certain growth of sugar 
in the islands, there is bound to follow an enor¬ 
mous demand for American machinery and numerous 
other articles incident to increased earning capacity 
and a higher standard of living among the people of 
the Philippines. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sources to which the inquirer may turn for information on 
the sugar industry are extensive and numerous. Among these 
is the published testimony before the Senate and House Com¬ 
mittees on the Philippines. Apply, Bureau of Insular Affairs, 
Washington, D. C. “Farmers’ Bulletin” No. 1, being a primer 
on the cultivation of sugar cane, by Wm. S. Lyon, published by 
the Bureau of Printing, Manila, 1904, is especially recommended. 
“Growing Sugar Cane in Hawaii,” by William C. Stubbs, 
Ph. D., being an extract from Bulletin No. 95. U. S. Dep’t of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C. “ Weekly Sugar Trade Jour¬ 
nal,” published by Willett & Gray, New York, the acknowl¬ 
edged authorities on sugar. The independent commercial 
influences in Manila are probably able to furnish the most 
valuable personal information as to sugar in the islands. 


CHAPTER XV 

LITTLE-KNOWN OPPORTUNITIES 

Outline of Topics : Development of good feeling between 
Americans and Filipinos — Commerce as a promoter of interna¬ 
tional good-will — Absence of Oriental caste and conservatism — 
Opportunities for the development of electrical power—Need of 
improved transportation facilities—An instance of success in in¬ 
terior transportation — Great opportunities for factories — Desira¬ 
bility of Government aid in building factories — Abundance of raw 
material for making goods that are in demand — Utilization of by¬ 
products — Mechanical devices much needed — Need of electric 
lighting in prosperous cities — Bibliography. 

I N the confusion and uncertainty of the first years 
of the American occupation, it was but natural 
that each of the two races — Americans and 
Filipinos —overlooked the good qualities of the other. 
Much of the first mutual suspicion has been disarmed, 
and practically all animosity has disappeared, before 
the closer personal relations that have resulted from 
commercial, economical, and political associations. 
The tension of a few years ago has relaxed, and the 
Filipinos seem to be in a receptive mood for the 
establishment of business relations with Americans. 

The sociological value of the business man as an 
envoy of peace and good-will has long been recognized. 
Especially have his good offices won recognition in 


252 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the Philippines. Mr. Carson Taylor, editor of the 
w Manila Daily Bulletin,” says : 

“The strongest tie that can bind any two peoples 
together is that of commercial interest. Hearts and 
treasures are not far apart, and politics and business are 
not apt to lose each other. Whatever becomes a source 
of profit to the Philippines will be pretty sure to become 
also a plank in the platform of political creed. The ex¬ 
porters of a country may do more to maintain the desired 
entente cordiale than the diplomats of court. The dreams 
of theorists soon melt before the facts of commerce, and 
the greatest gains of the past six years of the Philippines 
have been the gains in communication with the larger 
commercial life of the world.” 

The success of the new industrial ideals in the 
Philippines has been wholly due to the character of 
the Filipino people and the lack of rigid caste in their 
social organization. Individually they possess no in¬ 
herited distrust of the foreigner nor a dislike of his 
commercial methods, but are willing to lay hold of 
them when they are seen to be profitable. There are 
no distinctive tribal creeds to prevent the people’s 
development. Although the lines between rich and 
poor are firmly drawn, yet these are not lines of caste. 
The distinctions of social station are defined strictly 
by the wealth, education, or intelligence of the indi¬ 
viduals. The son of the humblest may rise to exalted 
position without being hindered by his lowly parentage. 

The traditional conservatism of China and the Ori¬ 
ent in general, excepting Japan, is non-existent in 





SCENES UNDER MODERN CONDITIONS 

A wedding party leaving the church, Northern Luzon — Filipino planters 
watching a Government demonstration of a traction 
engine — A successful hunting party 



















LITTLE-KNOWN OPPORTUNITIES 253 

the Philippines. The success that has attended the 
introduction of new methods designed for the welfare 
of the people gives hope for the success of new lines 
of trade and new industries. Each year these oppor¬ 
tunities increase, for the effect of the missionary work 
of commercial concerns is cumulative. 

An opportunity doubtless exists for the develop¬ 
ment of electrical power from mountain streams. A 
few power wheels have already been introduced suc¬ 
cessfully for the use of individuals. But there is great 
need for large companies which will develop power 
and retail it to the small consumer or use it them¬ 
selves in lumbering, transportation, etc. Electric 
power in the United States is now being carried prof¬ 
itably for a distance of more than three hundred miles. 
Electric power, developed from steam, is already 
being retailed in Manila. This power is particularly 
valuable to small manufactories in that it is divisible, 
and the customer may purchase as large or as small 
an amount of it as he desires. The existence of many 
streams of gre^t fall, large volume, and steady flow, 
undoubtedly L a natural resource of great value. 
There are so uany streams of this character through¬ 
out the land that it is inadvisable to enumerate them 
here. Perhaps the greatest single opportunity for an 
enormous plant would be one which would develop 
power from the Argus River in Mindanao. The river 
rises in Lake Lanao, elevation 2,400 feet above sea 
level, and after a torrential course of twenty-one miles 
empties into the ocean at Ilagan Bay. Two miles 


254 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

from the mouth of the river there is a vertical drop 
of 220 feet. Here the flow of the river at the time it 
was gauged was 5,800 cubic feet per second, and, from 
inquiries among the inhabitants, and considering the 
steadying effect caused by the storage capacity of the 
lake, it is believed that the minimum flow would not 
be less than 2,000 cubic feet per second. Assuming 
the efficiency of the hydraulic apparatus at seventy 
per cent, and that of the electric generator at ninety- 
five per cent, 82,250 electric horse power would be 
delivered at this point even in the most prolonged 
dry season. Altogether, it is estimated that at least a 
half-million theoretical horse power, even during ex¬ 
treme low water, is being wasted between Lake Lanao 
and Ilagan Bay. There would be, perhaps, an oppor¬ 
tunity for an electric line to transport freight and mil¬ 
itary supplies between Lake Lanao and the coast; a 
good road has been built. 

The opportunities for capital to improve the trans¬ 
portation facilities in thickly populated districts, or 
along natural lines of freight travel, seem to be excel¬ 
lent. Several years ago an inventive American ob¬ 
served the great traffic across the narrowest portion 
of Luzon peninsula, connecting the east and west 
seas. The journey across the peninsula, near Daet, 
is but a level seven miles, while around by sea it is 
close to three hundred miles of bad sailing. Tracks 
were laid, and a small crude railroad was built, the 
cars being propelled by mules or carabao. The un¬ 
dertaking has proved extremely profitable. It handles 


LITTLE-KNOWN OPPORTUNITIES 


255 


all the freight, especially in wet weather, when the 
roads are muddy. The Government lends every assis¬ 
tance to enterprises of this sort. It has frequently 
offered mail contracts and contracts for the transpor¬ 
tation of military supplies by pack trains, river 
steamers, and other means of conveyance. Native 
traffic is heavy. Passenger trade on the inter-island 
steamers makes up in volume for the comparatively 
low fares. 

One has but to glance at the imports to realize the 
opportunities for factories. An average of about one 
million dollars per month is expended for certain 
products, many of which are now being sent away 
in a raw state to be manufactured in other countries 
and then to be returned to the Philippines for local 
consumption. This is indeed “carrying coals to 
Newcastle.’’ Although the amount thus expended 
is not actually great in comparison with the country’s 
resources, yet when it is considered that the total 
money in circulation is much less than thirty mil¬ 
lions, it will readily be seen how serious is the drain 
imposed upon the country by its lack of factories. 
The opportunity for profitable home factories is in¬ 
tensified by the high prices which manufactures 
command. 

A plan has been proposed by Mr. Charles E. 
Wheeler, president of the American Chamber of Com¬ 
merce of Manila, that, where for political or economical 
reasons local private capital hesitates to engage in en¬ 
terprise, the Government build factories. When these 


256 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


are on a paying basis the Government could sell them 
to private concerns. The plan has been practised 
with marked success in Queensland, Australia. It 
seems to possess much merit, in that it would engage 
local capital and encourage reinvestment. 

A modern sugar refinery could be advantageously 
located in Manila. At the present time there is an in¬ 
ferior refinery at Malabon, a suburb of Manila. But 
it is quite inadequate and has not run steadily. Prac¬ 
tically all the refined sugar in the islands is treated 
in Hong-Kong or elsewhere, and returned in com¬ 
mercial form. Factory labor is quite plentiful in 
Manila and an up-to-date refinery seems an economic 
certainty. 

Rope manufacturing is a promising industry. Rope¬ 
making on primitive lines is carried on all over the 
islands; but it is a household industry, and the rope 
produced is necessarily limited in length and size, and 
not of the best grade, though it is saved from inferior¬ 
ity by the quality of the hemp. Although the archi¬ 
pelago is the greatest producer of the finest cordage 
material in the world, most of the rope used is im¬ 
ported. 1 The largest makers of rope are Yngchausti 

1 Hong-Kong, the greatest tonnage port in the world, and also 
Shanghai and Singapore, are all famous ship-refitting points and 
immense consumers of cordage, no strand of which is of Philippine 
manufacture. The Philippine manufacturer enjoys a positive 
handicap of more than twenty dollars on each and every ton of im¬ 
ported rope. The savings that he effects are, an export duty on the 
raw abaca, two transportations each half-way around the world, 
as well as double commissions, brokerage, storage, insurance (fire 
and marine), drayage, interest, and port dues. 


LITTLE-KNOWN OPPORTUNITIES 


257 


and Company, who own a ropewalk within a short 
distance of Manila. The plant has been in operation 
fifty years. It was three times burned down during 
the insurrection. The average product is four hun¬ 
dred and fifty tons per annum. From one hundred 
and fifty to two hundred and fifty men, women, and 
children are employed the year round, and the opera¬ 
tives, who live in the little village surrounding the 
ropewalk, are contented and prosperous. 

Furniture-making is another industry offering ex¬ 
ceptional advantages. The Filipinos are highly skilled 
workmen in this line ; the wages paid are exceedingly 
moderate; and the country contains an abundant sup¬ 
ply of the rarest and most beautiful cabinet timbers 
in the world. Great quantities of American lumber, 
which is not suited to withstand climate and insects, 
and has but a short life in comparison with native 
timber, and a considerable quantity of manufactured 
furniture, are now being imported. Of the eight saw¬ 
mills in Manila only three are of modern type, and 
these three are very small compared to the average 
mill in the United States. There is, undoubtedly, an 
opportunity for thoroughly equipped sawmills which 
shall operate their own timber concessions and so 
assure themselves of an abundant supply of raw ma¬ 
terial. All the mills in the islands are operating 
to their full capacities and are unable to get on hand 
a supply of seasoned timber that will meet the re¬ 
quirements of furniture factories. The mills are al¬ 
ways behind their orders. Indeed, most of the timber 
17 


258 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


is sawn to order. The well-to-do and wealthy classes 
furnish their homes most exquisitely. 

The utilization of by-products in factories that em¬ 
ploy native labor at low cost deserves a whole chapter. 
Among these by-products are the discarded leaves of 
the Manila hemp plant, which contain a large amount 
of valuable fibre; the husks of the cocoanut, which, 
though sometimes made into matting or used as fuel, 
are generally discarded. But space will not permit 
an enumeration. There is a great dearth of cattle 
food and farm fertilizers; but the establishment of 
silos, and the manufacture of cheap fertilizer from 
waste products should prove profitable. 

Tanning is an industry that should receive atten¬ 
tion. Most of the hides exported are in so hard and 
brittle a condition as to be almost beyond redemp¬ 
tion. Although the forests abound in the finest tan¬ 
ning bark in the world, but little effort has been made 
to put it to skilled use. Firewood brings a very high 
price in Manila. Concessions for firewood tracts can 
be obtained from the Forestry Bureau in regions 
affording easy and cheap water shipment to the me¬ 
tropolis. Such concessions, it may be observed, are 
perhaps more favorable in the Philippines than in 
any other country, and the royalties paid the Govern¬ 
ment are far less than the cost of buying timber lands 
outright. The getting out of ties for the new rail¬ 
road construction is attracting much attention. A 
preference is given to native ties, and no royalties are 
charged by the Forestry Bureau. 


LITTLE-KNOWN OPPORTUNITIES 


259 


There is an especial need for mechanical devices 
that will supplant present primitive and often ex¬ 
pensive methods. While most of the machines and 
devices used in the United States might be used also 
in the Philippines, yet local needs frequently require 
special apparatus. Of the classes of implements now 
adaptable may be mentioned windmills, hoes, spades, 
ploughs, rakes, irrigating machinery, broad-tired steel 
wagon-wheels, certain kinds of edge-tools, rice mills, 
and many other implements. Only through a knowl¬ 
edge of the islands may one realize the opportunity 
for specialized devices. There is a tremendous need 
for small machines which the people could work by 
hand-power, since at the present time they largely 
lack the power and equipment to operate more intri¬ 
cate machinery; there is also need for simple farm 
machinery, as windmills, which the people themselves 
may operate. Among needed devices may be men¬ 
tioned wagons and ploughs adapted to the carabao and 
to native bullocks, aerial tramways to carry cut timber 
from the hills to tidewater, cheap modern looms, and 
sewing-machines. We have seen even the savage peo¬ 
ple using hand sewing-machines. Small rice-hulling 
mills to be operated by hand-power may be success¬ 
fully introduced. 

Initiative is much needed to develop the industries; 
and there are many profitable enterprises that may be 
undertaken by the young man of executive ability 
and small capital. We know of a school-teacher who 
formed a partnership with a wealthy Filipino in a 


260 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


distant province. They purchased a rice-mill and a 
gasoline engine to run it. Though in a great rice- 
producing district the people had shipped but little 
rice, as it was necessary to hull it with the primitive 
wooden bowl and long thick stick, or else export the 
rice in the straw on the backs of animals. During 
the rainy season this was impracticable, and it always 
was expensive. Now the rice is threshed in the dis¬ 
trict where produced, and is easily shipped by pony 
pack to the nearest markets, where it brings a high 
price. Formerly there were years when this district 
produced rice in abundance, while forty miles away 
there was almost a famine. 

The manufacture of candles suitable to the tropics 
would be profitable. Many thousand dollars’ worth 
are imported each month, while there is an abundance 
of oils and fats suitable for making them. Even 
cement and marbles are imported, despite the abun¬ 
dance of the raw materials in some localities. The 
establishment of ice-making and electric-light plants 
in the smaller cities would be a paying investment. 
This is particularly true of electrical power plants. 
There are many old and established cities of from two 
thousand to forty thousand or more inhabitants, the 
streets of which are still lighted by oil lamps. A con¬ 
tract could doubtless be made with the municipalities 
for street electric lighting, while light could be sold to 
residences and private establishments. In manufac¬ 
turing towns it could be furnished to rice mills and a 
great number of small factories. W e know of several 



PRIMITIVE MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION 































































LITTLE-KNOWN OPPORTUNITIES 261 

considerable cities whose inhabitants would welcome 
with open arms an electric-power company. 

In conclusion, the following may be mentioned 
among the manufactured articles now imported into 
the archipelago, which are suited to home manufac¬ 
ture or production : cotton and cotton manufactures, 
known in the islands as print goods. Many of the 
weaves of native fibres are very cheap, strong, and 
durable. Unquestionably they could be placed in 
competition with the common cotton fabrics that now 
clothe the people of the Philippines and the millions 
of poorer folk of British India and the teeming islands 
of Oceanica. The coarser grades could be sold at 
the same level as medium cottons, which they will 
outlast. Cotton is raised in the islands, but not in 
sufficient quantities to support factories ; but the raw 
material could well be imported. Yarns and threads, 
cordages and ropes, hats and caps in great quantities, 
lace and embroideries, all of these are articles for 
which there is an enormous demand, while there is 
likewise an abundance of the raw materials. Chil¬ 
dren’s toys are introduced in quantities, and to our 
mind the manufacture of such toys would prove an 
exceptionally profitable industry. Considerable quan¬ 
tities of jewelry are manufactured in the islands, yet 
the imports are large, and a large jewelry manufac¬ 
tory, well-equipped, might be successful. Glass and 
earthenware, earths and stone, are introduced in great 
quantities despite the existence of unexcelled glass 
sands, pottery clays, and the abundance of coal fuel; 


262 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


there is also abundance of bones, hoofs, horns, ashes, 
hides, skins, fertilizer, lumber for furniture, drugs, 
dyes, bags for sugar, carpets, preserved fruits (the 
islands contain a wonderful variety of citrus and other 
tropical and semi-tropical fruits), grease and soap 
stocks (the finest natural soap supply is found in 
the Philippines), paper, and paper products. Large 
quantities of machinery are now imported, though the 
lack of development of the native ore deposits would 
hardly seem to encourage extensive foundries at the 
present time. However, the manufacture of small 
implements is already proving successful. 


CHAPTER 5YI 

THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE SIGHTSEER 

Outline of Topics : The Philippines easily reached from Hong- 
Kong and Japan — Manila hotels — Traces of Spanish colonization 

— Churches—The Walled City—The Luneta — Up the Pasig River 

— The climate of the Philippines — The tourist season — Some trips 
for travellers — The summer capital at Baguio — Taal Volcano — 
Some inter-island steamboat trips — Scenic charms in mountain 
districts — Cost of a tour through the islands—Jungles on the 
mountain tops — A wagon journey through the provinces — Dress 
and equipment for Philippine travel — Big game hunting —* 
Bibliography. 

T HE traveller in the Orient should by no means 
neglect the opportunity to visit the Philip¬ 
pines ; their convenient location as a trans¬ 
shipping place, and their accessibility through many 
steamer lines, at once dispose of the objection that they 
are out of the way. Manila can be reached in two days 
from Hong-Kong, and in from four days to a week 
from Japan, depending upon the number and length 
of stops in intermediate ports. Those who are bound 
from North China or Japan to Australasia will natu¬ 
rally stop over at Manila. 

For the citizen of the United States who aspires to 
familiarize himself with our first great colonial under¬ 
taking, or who seeks trade or diversion, a journey to 


264 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the archipelago is well worth while, involving, as it 
does, a glimpse of a great part of the Orient. 

Manila, being the first port of destination for al¬ 
most every visitor, naturally commands our first atten¬ 
tion. Accommodation for the tourist is suitable and is 
rapidly being amplified to meet the demand. The city 
contains several good hotels and a large number of 
social clubs, wherein the tourist is entertained. There 
are many restaurants. One can, by ordering in ad¬ 
vance, get as fine a meal as anywhere in the world. 
Guests at the hotels are charged an average of about 
two and a half to five American dollars per day, with 
special rates by the week or month. A magnificent 
hotel, to cost $500,000, has been planned by the Gov¬ 
ernment, and last reports indicate the acceptance of 
a bid from a private contractor. Completion of the 
edifice is expected within the year 1907. It is quite, 
usual for foreigners in Manila to rent apartments and 
engage their own servants. Livery rigs ( carramatos ) 
are rented at fifty cents an hour. 

Manila affords much sight-seeing. Its walls and 
battlements would render a European city world- 
famous. Apart from the evidences of Spanish col¬ 
onization it possesses an individuality all its own. 
Suppose a district of Manila were to be transported 
to the midst of some American city, what a commo¬ 
tion would arise! People would gape at the traces of 
Spain everywhere, the narrow streets, the overhanging 
houses, the loaded earretellas with the pony trying hard 
to keep his feet on the ground, the slow-going carabao, 



THE MANILA OF TO-DAY 

Ice plant—Government laboratory — The Escolta, the principal 
business street — The Escolta before the 
advent of electricity 


■■■ 


































THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE SIGHTSEER 265 

the little brown children dressed in nature’s own, 
the dulce baskets with their collection of sweets, the 
crooked esteros, or creeks, with teeming traffic and 
brookside laundries, the straight-shouldered and bare¬ 
footed women, the picturesque nipa bungalows in the 
native quarter, the miscellaneous tiendas , or stores, 
and everywhere the idle, happy crowds, apparently 
waiting for some one to run over them. 

Parts of Manila remind one of Venice, — the arched 
bridges, the huge walls of stone with steps leading 
down to the water, the winding Pasig with its river 
life. More than fifteen thousand souls live their lives 
upon the river boats. The most interesting portion of 
Manila is, perhaps, the famous Walled City, Intra- 
muros, which is one of the most perfect examples 
of a fortified city of the seventeenth century. Here 
is an amazing collection of objects of historical and 
antiquarian interest. There are, it may be observed, 
almost enough old churches and convents and libra¬ 
ries in the islands to scatter well over a continent. 
The churches of the Walled City are its glory. Over 
half of the area within the walls is Church property; 
this alone may indicate something of the vast impor¬ 
tance of the Church in Spanish days. The great 
Cathedral is comparatively new, but imposing to a 
degree. Santo Domingo is the only Gothic church 
in the city. The Jesuit Church excels in beautiful 
carved woods, and has a fine museum. The Augus- 
tinian Church is the oldest in the islands, and stands 
as it was completed in 1605, with its vault of hewn 


266 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


stone and its enormous walls, which for three hundred 
years have stood proof against all storms and earth¬ 
quakes. 

Wonderful secrets these old cathedrals might tell! 
Once near Manila we visited, with the attendant 
padre, a Franciscan Cathedral. In a cool dark attic 
beneath its eaves we saw enormous chests filled with 
treasure that Midas might have envied. There were 
images of gleaming, solid, yellow gold, eighteen inches 
to two feet in height; there was a wine service brought 
out by the lonely galleon which travelled the little- 
known seas from New Spain ; there were goblets 
innumerable, and candelabra, and plates, and cruci¬ 
fixes, and maces, all of solid yellow gold, exquisitely 
carved, that possibly for generations no layman’s eyes 
but ours had looked upon. Few know of the treats 
that may reward the interested tourist. The convents 
attached to these churches present many objects of 
interest: libraries old and curious, with hand-painted 
books dating back to 1545; paintings so old that only 
a brown blur remains; organs mute with age; scarred 
walls, and dreamy gardens, and relics, and images, and 
saints, and shrines, and colonnades, and broad salas , 
and spacious cuartos abound; and a benediction seems 
to steal over the visitor from the walls, which reflect 
to-day the sixteenth century. 

Construction work on the walls of the Intramuros 
began not less than two hundred and sixty years ago. 
The first stones for Fort Santiago, at the mouth of 
Manila Bay, were laid in 1591 


THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE SIGHTSEER 2G7 


The Government is planning and has already com¬ 
pleted many great architectural achievements. Mr. 
D. H. Burnham several years ago visited Manila at 
the suggestion of Secretary Taft; and his plans, which 
are now being carried out by Mr. William Edward 
Parsons, architect of the Civil Government, will make 
Manila one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 
These plans are being carried out with a commercial 
as well as an artistic object. 

“ It is important that in a city like Manila, which con¬ 
tains so many beautiful and historical monuments of 
Spanish times, the preservation of these monuments be 
combined with the general scheme of development. . . . 

“ The Spanish seem to have had a distinct architect¬ 
ural sense, a sense which combined the artistic with the 
ordinary. They have left many excellent examples of 
the grouping of public buildings. There the church and 
convent form one side of the square, the municipal build¬ 
ings another, and the school buildings on the front. This 
was the general effect, but with a variety of treatment. 
In the haste and rush to erect public buildings in the 
United States the first available site is used. This error 
is being felt in American cities. We are not incapable 
of importing architecture from foreign countries, such as 
the Gothic, Elizabethan, Louis XVI, and Italian Renais¬ 
sance. But the Philippines have an architecture of their 
own, — the spreading eaves, the overhanging second sto¬ 
ries, the shell windows which prevent the glare of the 
sun which comes through ordinary glass, the buttressed 
walls, and the floors of solid mahogany planks, have all 
contributed to produce a style of architecture particu¬ 
larly Filipino. ” 1 


i William Edward Parsons. 


268 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Manila to-day is generally accounted by far tlie 
most beautiful city in the Orient. The Luneta, or 
Park and boulevard combined, with its view of the 
harbor, shipping, and the Mountains of Mariveles, is 
a constant attraction. Already the Luneta at evening 
presents a panorama which one may see nowhere else 
in the world. Thousands of people every evening 
drive upon the boulevard in their earromatos , or two¬ 
wheeled covered buggies, drawn by Filipino ponies. 
The music, the people in their white suits visiting and 
chatting, and the lights of the earromatos darting like 
thousands of fire-flies, make a gay scene. 

A trip up the Pasig River to the great fresh water 
lake, Laguna de Bay, is well worth while. Several 
fast steamers make the journey daily, stopping at nu¬ 
merous inland ports. The point of greatest interest 
on Laguna de Bay is perhaps Los Banos, possessing 
a modern hotel, where are located hot baths famous 
among the people for many generations. 

Manila is the centre of many important social 
functions. The levees at the home of the Governor- 
General, with their dashes of official and military 
splendor, and the public receptions, balls, and other 
celebrations possess a stateliness, sparkle, and gaiety 
perhaps unequalled outside of European capitals. 

The traveller naturally inquires, “ What time of year 
should I visit Manila ? ” Before directly answering this 
question, let us consider the climatic conditions of the 
seasons, and recall some of the mistaken impressions 
that have generally prevailed in regal'd to the climate. 



TYPICAL AMERICAN IMPROVEMENTS 

Ayala bridge across the Pasig River, Manila — High-school building at 
Yigan — An American quarantine station near Mindanao 
— Home of an American school-teacher 

































THE PHILIPPINES FOE THE SIGHTSEER 269 


Every prospective tourist, almost, has been more or 
less alarmed when considering a visit to Manila, by 
stories of the unbearable beat, the destructive ty¬ 
phoons, the fearful earthquakes, and the general 
dreary dead level of disease and death resulting from 
the pestilential climate. In truth no feature of life 
in the Philippines has been more maligned than the 
climate. Though indeed, extensive meteorological 
weather charts and reports have been made, these 
convey very little meaning to the lay reader, who 
wishes to know, most of all, what the climate is really 
like; how it feels to the pilgrim from the temperate 
zone. 

Climate in general depends upon the temperature, 
humidity, purity, and movement of the air. There is 
in the Philippines a complete absence of extremes of 
temperature. Except at the highest altitudes frost is 
unknown, and in the very hottest places sunstroke is 
unheard of. The limit of the upward tendency of the 
thermometer is 100° Fahrenheit. 1 The total annual 
variation is not more than forty degrees. It is simply 
summer all the year, and nine months of it is a very 
pleasant summer. Broadly speaking, the climate is 

1 This statement will undoubtedly excite surprise; perhaps 
incredulity. Though the thermometer may for a few hours reach 
or exceed 100° Fahrenheit, yet we have never heard of it and it is 
probable such instances are comparatively rare. The daily annual 
mean is always much less than 100° Fahrenheit. The highest 
recorded temperature for a period of twenty-two years in Manila, as 
given by the Weather Bureau there, was 37.8° Centigrade [t. e., 
100.04° Fahrenheit] which was reached on May 23, 1889. From 
Vol. I., page 104, Census of the Philippines. 


270 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the most healthful and comfortable of any portion 
of the tropics inhabited by the white man. Com¬ 
pared in detail with that of New York, or Chicago, or 
St. Louis, it presents many good points and very few 
on the wrong side of the scale. “ The fact is that no 
one ever deserts the Philippines for climatic reasons,” 
says the “Manila Daily Commercial Bulletin.” 

December, January, and half of November and 
February furnish the most delightful climatic condi¬ 
tions in the world. During that time it is neither 
hot nor cold, but, as an old resident observes, “ just 
right all the time.” These, therefore, are months to 
be especially recommended to the tourist. “The 
very air breathes the luxury of non-resistance to 
nature, and if ever life is worth living anywhere it is 
here.” Toward the first of March it begins to warm 
up. The thermometer daily climbs a little higher, 
and there may be a week when the noon time is 
suggestive of those hot spring days in the States, 
when the unaccustomed heat is hard to bear. Cooler 
days follow, and then warmer again; April and May 
are the hottest months of the year. But the aridity 
of the air in these months makes the heat compara¬ 
tively easy to bear. Showers come in June, and the 
showery weather lasts till November. In the rainy 
season there is not a continuous downpour; there are 
many intervals of bright and pleasant days. 

The characteristics of the weather in the various 
seasons as given above apply especially to Manila. 
They are not the same in other portions of the 


THE PHILIPPINES FOP THE SIGHTSEER 271 


archipelago, but the average probably does not vary 
much from this outline. 

The tendency of many newcomers is to take very 
little or almost no physical exercise. Where it is so 
comfortable some feel invited to read a book or to 
dream in a shady nook, while others are disposed to 
partake unduly of alcoholic stimulants. A life of 
this sort almost invariably leads to an untoning of 
the system. Swimming, walking, horseback riding, 
tennis, golf, hunting, mountain climbing, and like 
exercises will keep one in tiptop physical condition, 
and can be done in great comfort at all seasons of the 
year. Common observation shows that people who 
lead active lives enjoy good health. American chil¬ 
dren develop faster and are stronger in the Phil¬ 
ippines than almost anywhere else in the world. In 
fact the climate is to be accounted a great asset. 
During the fiscal year ending June 30,1906, the death 
rate among American civilians living in the Phil¬ 
ippines was only 9.34 per thousand, while the death 
rate among American soldiers was but 8.65. 

A pleasant trip may be taken over the Manila and 
Dagupan railway to Dagupan, distance one hundred 
and twenty miles. It affords a characteristic pan¬ 
orama. The time required for the journey is eight 
hours, one train leaving in the early morning and 
the other about noon. The return trip is made the 
following day. There is a good hotel at Dagupan, in 
charge of an experienced American hotel manager. 

If one has the time to continue further, the summer 


272 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


capital of the Philippine Commission among the pines 
at Baguio, in Benguet Province, elevation about 5,000 
feet, affords some enjoyable mountain views. There 
is quite a large community here, the hotel being 
under the same management as that at Dagupan. 
The climate is cool and bracing. The highest tem¬ 
perature recorded in 1906 was 81°, and the lowest 41° 
40' Fahrenheit. It will soon be possible to reach 
Baguio in a single day. The concession of the 
Manila Railroad Company requires it to extend its 
railway northeasterly to “ Camp One,” where the 
Benguet road proper begins, and whence it climbs up 
the gorge to Baguio. It is expected that this ex¬ 
tension will be completed during 1907. The road up 
the gorge, about twenty-four miles in length, is a 
marvel of engineering, aided by the use of steel and 
concrete. Ultimately an electric railway will doubt¬ 
less climb from Camp One to Baguio. 

Taal Volcano, rising from the midst of a lake of 
the same name in Southern Luzon, and about thirty- 
five miles from Manila in an air line, presents both 
an inspiring and a marvellously unique aspect. The 
volcano is active, having violently erupted a number 
of times in the past. The trip may be made easily 
at slight expense from Manila, there being a good 
road; or a river steamer may be taken to Calamba, 
a near point on Laguna de Bay, whence one travels 
overland ten or twelve miles. Arriving at Taal Lake 
one takes a boat for the volcano. 

More extended views of the Philippines may be 


THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE SIGHTSEER 273 

had through travel on the inter-island steamers. 
Four lines being subsidized, steamers are now thor¬ 
oughly modern in every respect, and only a reasonable 
charge is exacted for the transfer of freight or pas¬ 
sengers. Most vessels leaving for the Sulu Islands, 
Zamboanga, and other Moro ports (all about five 
hundred miles south of Manila) stop also at Iloilo and 
Cebu. Comfortable accommodations render the trip 
exceedingly pleasant, and one will see more people of 
different tribes than could be encountered in a journey 
of similar length anywhere in the world. The round 
trip takes from ten days to three weeks. Govern¬ 
ment transports, coast-guard boats, constabulary and 
military steamers, as well as tramps, make the round 
of these ports. Permission for passage is obtained 
from the Quartermaster’s Department, Manila. 

Apart from the magnificent evidences of the old 
Spanish civilization — the superb cathedrals and en¬ 
gaging customs of the land — and aside from its 
unique presentation of a life midway between the 
Oriental and the Occidental, the archipelago pre¬ 
sents an alluring invitation to the more adventurous 
traveller who would step from conventional paths into 
the little-known interior. Perhaps no country dis¬ 
closes to the traveller more diverse scenic charms 
than the Philippines; the resources of a vast con¬ 
tinent appear to have been encompassed within them. 
Were these known, they would render the country a 
Mecca for the globe-trotter, and also for the tour¬ 
ist wlio delights in uncommon aspects of nature. 

18 


274 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Travel in the interior is not attended with so many 
inconveniences as one would naturally expect, pro¬ 
vided always that one is equipped as thoroughly as 
he would be if venturing off beaten paths elsewhere. 

One can go throughout the entire islands in safety 
and comparative convenience without a guard of any 
kind. If the travelling be in the island of Luzon or 
any other of the large islands, except Mindanao, a trip 
can be arranged so that he will rarely be away from a 
constabulary post at night, and thus will almost always 
be within telegraphic communication with Manila. As 
there are no hotels except in Manila and its vicinity, 
the traveller will stop at the dwellings of the various 
presidents, or mayors. He will never be required to 
pay for his board or lodging, and in fact will be treated 
as a distinguished guest. Presents for the wife of his 
host or the ninos (children) would, however, be a most 
delicate attention. Many of the large companies in 
the Philippines, notably the Tabacalera Company, pro¬ 
vide their agents with a special annual fund for the 
purpose of entertaining visitors, travellers, and way¬ 
farers. The cost of a pack train in the interior is 
inconsiderable. Native ponies can be had at fifty 
cents a day each or less; four or five ponies will be 
necessary for two white men and their outfit. Ten 
cents’ worth of rice straw ( palay ) at night keeps 
the horses in good condition, but they will thrive 
even without it. The cook, if he be an expert, will 
require fifteen dollars a month at the least, and the 
rest of the boys can be had at from five to eight 



VIEWS IN MANILA 

Post-office, showing modern vehicles —A street 
in the walled city —View in the 
Botanical Gardens 



















































THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE SIGHTSEER 275 


dollars a month. Thus one can travel all through 
the islands at a maximum expense of about three or 
four American dollars a day. 

Some very attractive trips may be taken through 
the mountains of the interior in unbeaten paths, espe¬ 
cially those that lead into the interchanging mountain 
regions; but the prospective traveller may search 
in vain for books which will impart an idea of this 
vast mountain country. These regions possess many 
temperate-zone characteristics, and afford a diversity 
of vistas and a variety of charms that baffle description. 
Every day is a delight. No temperate-zone mountain 
regions — not even those of California or Colorado — 
can vie with the superb beauties of the richly verdure- 
clad mountains. The interiors of Luzon, Mindanao, 
and some of the other islands, possess elevated plateau 
systems with great valleys and meadows that, without 
disparagement to the lower altitudes, may be truth¬ 
fully described as a white man’s country. Here the 
air is crisp and cool, even cold, sometimes, at night; 
succulent pasture grass knee-high springs densely from 
a soil rich and black as that of Canaan; mountain 
streams clear as crystal tumble through great forests 
and go gliding and winding through these vast wild 
pastures. Here the wild deer barks 1 to his mate at 
sundown and sets the country ringing as he emerges 
from the black woods that extend like little capes and 

1 The deer of the Philippines, instead of giving a bleating sound 
as do the American black-tailed, Virginia, and mule deer, gives a 
short, sharp, ringing bark. 


276 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


promontories into the grassy meadows. Here the wild 
carabao, unhunted and unafraid, lopes with ungainly 
stride, though with amazing swiftness, into a covert; 
and the wild boar, weary of the hillside jungles, slips 
into the open and ploughs up the ground for the sweet 
grass roots. 

The mountains which lead up to these plateaus, 
where rise great river systems, are frequently precipi¬ 
tous on their seacoast side. Thus in going over the 
lately constructed Benguet road to Baguio, a moun¬ 
tain resort on Luzon Island, the traveller finds himself 
at an altitude of 5000 feet within but a day’s journey 
of the lowlands. The hills after an elevation of but 
1500 or 2000 feet are covered with great pines and 
firs, which grow in park-like clumps or groves, and 
with occasional little forests in the gullies. Wild 
grass stands everywhere upon the steep mountain¬ 
sides; when the wind blows, it ripples like a lake 
and shimmers like a sea of satin. It is nutritious, 
and makes good feed. The native saddle horse can 
get all the fodder he requires if hobbled with the 
bridle reins; he does not require a grazing rope. 
Thousands, possibly millions, of cattle could be pas¬ 
tured in these mountains. Often before reaching 
the mountain peaks the fine groves and open country 
of the slopes give way to dense semi-tropical jungles 
which crown the mist-clad summits. These jungles 
are characteristic of many interior lowland regions. 

In these crowning jungles of the mountain tops the 
trail is often densely shaded by the foliage which 


THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE SIGHTSEER 277 


meets above. Huge trailing vines wave in the air 
like serpents about to strike; great tree-ferns sixty 
feet or more in height, barely raise their glorious 
crowns above the luxurious mass of growing things, 
and in the distance, in comparison with the huge 
groves of the forests, they seem but little larger than 
greenhouse plants. Numbers of exquisite flowering 
orchids, frequently of great size, and innumerable 
huge parasitic plants cling to almost every tree, or 
swing like hanging baskets from some thick vine that 
droops like a plummet line from a limb above. Enor¬ 
mous creepers, big as a man’s thigh, wind like 
pythons around the giant trees of the mountain 
jungles. 

Crossing the Caraballo Pass from Manila to interior 
Luzon in winter months (November, December, Janu¬ 
ary, February) one comes into the clouds which hang 
above and on the east side of the summit of the range; 
going over six months later, at the time of the rainy 
season in Manila, one finds the clouds on the west 
side, and the dry season on the east side. Far below 
the hanging fog are the grassy hills and the groves 
and forests of pine. 

As a rule, after one has attained the summit from 
the steep sides nearest the sea or seacoast plains, the 
mountains are not rugged, but roll up and wind away 
in great hummocks and billows. Ages of decayed 
vegetation have taken away the sharpness of their 
contour, except, perhaps, where in the higher reaches 
some rushing stream cuts a precipitous cleft. In 


278 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


form the hills of interior Luzon, and of most of the 
other islands, suggest the rolling coast range of the 
Sierra Nevadas; resembling the Cumberland Moun¬ 
tains, though of greater fertility, they differ in that 
frequently they are not covered with much under¬ 
brush. The great ranges send out great circular 
hog-backs everywhere covered with the pines and 
grayish-barked hardwoods, and the great seas of grass 
which shimmer in the sun and roll in the wind. 

A wagon journey through the provinces will always 
be of interest. Often for miles in the settled districts 
the road is like the main and only street of a Western 
mining town; it is a continuous settlement. Thou¬ 
sands of chickens, goats, sheep, and native cattle graze 
along the highway, which frequently is fenced off by 
bamboo, and serves as a public common. The few 
carabao that are not working chew their cuds beneath 
the houses. In the early morning it is chilly. At 
dawn you will see the people gathering along the 
highway, chattering and shivering. Hundreds of 
people pass along the road; an endless procession of 
solid-wood-wheeled carts drawn by fast trotting oxen 
— sleek, fine cattle, graceful as deer and marked like 
Jerseys — flies past. By noon the avenue is deserted, 
save for the women carding their wool in the shade 
of the dwellings. 

Before arriving at the Philippines one may order 
suits of white drill of the approved pattern. These 
are made up very cheaply in Japan or in Hong-Kong 
in twenty-four hours, and are readily furnished by any 


THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE SIGHTSEER 279 


of the tailoring shops in Manila. For travel in the 
provinces the following outfit is recommended : two 
wool blankets, two khaki suits, trousers with riding 
breeches, two suits underwear, two pair leather leg- 
gins, one pith hat, one felt hat, one green forester’s 
suit (or other garment for dress occasions), tin knives, 
forks, plates, canned goods, one Colt’s army forty-five 
revolver, one large calibre rifle (for deer, hogs, and 
buffalo), one shotgun (for birds), tin cases for camera 
films, one poncho or rain-proof garment. The traveller 
should remember that in remote regions, as in the 
United States, it is really safer to be without a re¬ 
volver than with one. Except when hunting, our 
weapons have always been carried on the pack horse. 

Excellent hunting can be had almost anywhere in 
the interior. The islands abound in deer and wild 
boar, and in interior Luzon there are wild carabao. 
The latter animals when wounded or shot at are very 
dangerous. Deer are run down and speared by natives 
mounted on fleet horses. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

There are no books containing much of the information 
here given. 


CHAPTER XVII 

PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


Outline of Topics : National ideals and aspirations — Literacy 
of the masses — Their ignorance of republican government — 
America’s part in their education in self-government — Obedience to 
superiors inculcated by Mahommedan priests and by Spaniards — 
Respect for constituted authority and for the educated— Desire for 
material prosperity — Influence of Christianity — Progressiveness 
of the educated — Industrial prosperity as a step to further ambi¬ 
tions— Dr. Rizal’s attack on the priesthood — Notable Filipino 
authors, artists, jurists, and historians—Bibliography. 

I N touching upon a nation’s ideals one naturally 
first reverts to those in which all the people 
share alike. In a highly developed civilization, 
therefore, one is apt to emphasize national ideals as 
the most important, for these, being the mind of the 
people and common to all, have made the developed 
nation possible. Thus among the advanced nations 
those ideals that tend to perpetuate national unity 
are the most highly cherished. Patriotism, and the 
desire for prowess as a united people, — these are un¬ 
doubtedly among the bulwarks of every foremost 
nation. 

Measured in this way, Filipino ideals would be 
confusing to one not in sympathy with Filipino aspira¬ 
tions. The peasant loves his country with a passion¬ 
ate devotion. He is in love with the earth itself, the 


PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


281 


rivers, the mountains, the palms and groves, the house 
where he has always lived, the church to which he has 
always gone, the village or community of which he is 
a part. The conviction within him that the land of 
his birth is the loveliest in the world is funda¬ 
mental. Even the search for fortune, or for liberty 
itself, would scarcely impel him to leave it permanently. 

To say that this people as a whole is lacking in 
noble aspirations, or is wanting in patriotism, would 
be to do it a great injustice, for it possesses in abun¬ 
dance those homely domestic virtues which are at 
once the foundation and the inspiration of the more 
civilized peoples. Love of home, family, and friends, 
which is the source of devotion to the community, is 
as general and developed among the Filipinos as 
among any race on the globe. 

But the Filipino is not devoted to a form of gov¬ 
ernment which his forefathers have handed down 
from generation to generation and perfected, nor may 
he profoundly reverence the achievements of his 
nation among the peoples of the world, and the stir¬ 
ring exploits of its rulers in the world's drama, for 
these have not been a part of his history. Whatever 
ideals the people possess may not, therefore, be termed 
national ideals, for they do not bear upon the general 
questions of national government. That this is true 
is not to be ascribed to an inherent fault in the people, 
but rather to their lack of knowledge and their divi¬ 
sion into many tribes speaking many dialects, which 
have rendered national unity impossible. Though a 


282 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


surprising proportion 1 of the people are literate, 
their general knowledge is exceedingly circumscribed. 
Even if they can read and write a dialect, that dialect 
is limited to a small district, and they cannot be said 
to be in communication with the modem world at all. 

The vast agricultural class, the “ common people, ” 
— whom Abraham Lincoln once said God must love 
since he made so many of them, — comprising more 
than ninety per cent of the whole, do not think deeply 
upon the subject of governmental control. As we 
have noted, these people are simple, friendly, and very 
industrious for tropical workers. But they are mainly 
interested in purely local affairs, for their education 
heretofore has not tended to familiarize them with 
their country as a whole. They are of a common 
Malay stock, and, it may be added without the least 
disparagement to them, are totally unenlightened 
regarding the privileges or responsibilities of a repub¬ 
lican form of government. They do not care particu¬ 
larly for independence as the Anglo-Saxon mind 
conceives it, for it heretofore has meant nothing to 
them. As an instance in point, it may be observed 
that some native filibusters who had been active in 
demanding independence during the insurrection, and 
who, in the immediate confusion following the war, 
had been illegally restrained in the prison of Bilibid, 
were not sufficiently informed of their constitutional 

1 Forty-four per cent of the people over ten years of age are 
able to write some dialect, and over twenty per cent are able to 
read. 


PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


283 


privilege to be released from unlawful imprisonment, 
nor were their lawyers, until advised by American 
attorneys, to exercise the inherent right of habeas 
corpus. 

Although popular government has been unknown 
to the people of the Philippines, they are adapting 
themselves to American institutions not less readily 
than they have taken to various industrial innova¬ 
tions. In the light of what may be termed the new 
era, — the last few successful years of constructive 
effort, — the Filipino seems of an eminently practical 
turn of mind. He will absorb an ethical principle, an 
ideal of government; or, on the other hand, he will 
grasp a principle based on natural laws, if once he 
sees it in actual and successful application. Thus 
there are among the people as excellent provincial 
governors and presidents (mayors) of cities as there 
are engineers, electricians, and mechanics. 

A great degree of local autonomy has already been 
granted to the people ; both municipal officials and 
provincial governors are chosen at biennial elections. 
The last election for municipal officers took place in 
December, 1905, and that for provincial governors in 
February, 1906; subsequent elections will be held 
every two years. In addition, a legislative assembly, 
which will provide a large measure of home rule, has 
been provided for. The first session of the assembly 
will be held in July, 1907. 

These elections are a part of the Government’s plan 
to train the people in the art of self-government. The 


284 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


steps already taken allow complete local autonomy so 
far as municipal officers are concerned, and partial 
autonomy in provincial governments. The free choice 
of the provincial governor by the authorized electors 
of the province, and the election of all city officials, 
were preliminary experiments to the exercise of the 
more widely responsible duty, that of electing repre¬ 
sentatives to the legislative assembly. 

The initiation of popular forms of government 
among an Oriental people is without parallel in the 
histories of the colonizing nations; it is an innovation 
in colonial administration. Naturally, so unusual a 
step has invited the critical attention of other nations. 
Many of those who have expressed the hope that the 
outcome might prove favorable have at the same time 
freely predicted its failure. 

Yet, on the whole, it may be said that the elections 
afford gratifying evidence that progress is being made 
by the people in the art of self-government. “ Un¬ 
doubtedly, if there has been error it has not been in 
the danger of restriction, but rather in granting per¬ 
haps a larger measure of self-government than a 
people absolutely untrained in any of the functions of 
government were prepared for.” The training that 
has come to the people has been invaluable. Notwith¬ 
standing embarrassments they are undoubtedly far 
better contented, and perhaps better governed, than 
would have been the case had the central authority 
exercised more rigid control and performed more en¬ 
tirely the functions of providing for local governments. 



A GROUP OF MAYORS OF SMALL CITIES 



















PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


285 


Popular government, at the present time, pre¬ 
sents many dangers. One of these is that intrigu¬ 
ing, unworthy candidates, in their desire to become 
elected, may impose upon the people. In the old 
Spanish days the priests had the power to veto the 
election of an undesirable nominee for presidente 
(mayor), and often the veto power was exercised 
in a salutary manner; but on the other hand, it ex¬ 
posed municipalities to the control of the ecclesiastics. 

As a rule, the people are intensely interested in the 
elections. Once, in the provinces, we happened upon 
a remote barrio in which were seen no men. Upon 
inquiry it proved that the entire grown male popula¬ 
tion had gone to the nearest voting-place, eight miles 
distant. Interest such as this, upon the part of a 
people who for centuries have been the passive in¬ 
struments of government administrators, is most prom¬ 
ising. Of course, many irregularities occur, such as 
failure to qualify properly for registration. While 
many elections have been protested, the disposition of 
the minority to abide by the expressed will of the 
majority has not yet been questioned. The Filipino 
people have an inherent respect for government, and 
the will of their duly constituted superiors, that is 
more ancient than their association with Occidentals. 
For centuries their constituted rulers exacted from 
them implicit obedience. This spirit was more deeply 
inculcated by the Mohammedan priests, whose reli¬ 
gion commands obedience, and later by the Spaniards, 
whose idea of conquest, in common with that of other 


286 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


nations at that time, was the complete subjugation of 
the people. 

A common desire, among rich and poor, highly edu¬ 
cated and illiterate, is the desire for general material 
prosperity. They wish to see their wonderful country 
thriving, their children well clothed and raised in so¬ 
cial station above the lowly position of their parents. 
These desires are fundamental in every native breast, 
and sometimes to an intense degree. 

Though the people do not, as a whole, thoroughly 
appreciate the methods and objects of government, 
yet they are, collectively, as sensitive and responsive 
to the results of good, indifferent, or unworthy rule 
as they are individually to the personal slights or 
hardships that may be imposed upon them. Their 
admiration — almost reverence — for the more edu¬ 
cated classes frequently renders them the pliable 
tools of some selfish agitator who seeks to stir up 
trouble for his own ends. On these occasions the 
simple peasant may be approached by an educated 
but low and cunning politician, who by threats and 
great promises induces the poor farmer to leave his 
farm. “Your stomach is empty. What you need is 
independence. Then you will have many carabaos 
and fields, and your stomach will be full. I am a 
great leader, a general; I am going to secure the 
independence of the Philippines and make myself 
Emperor of the Republic, and I will reward you; 
but if you do not follow me, we will come here and 
burn your house and kill all your cattle.’’ This is, 


PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


287 


of course, a hypothetical statement; but the line of 
argument is one which, to our knowledge, has more 
than once been used. 

By similar threats various former bandits have re¬ 
cruited their forces. For this reason, although the 
proportion of crime is less in the Philippines than in 
the United States, many innocent peasants have been 
compelled to follow the standards of freebooters until 
the leaders have been dispersed by the Government. 
Often, too, when the prospect of political independence 
is presented as the fruit of that economic prosperity 
which the peasant so much desires, he has already be¬ 
come espoused to a cause which has not contributed to 
his well-being and which might have led to his death. 
But as soon as his leader disappears, he returns to his 
little farm and takes up the thread of life as before. 

Any general estimate of the ambitions of the people 
must necessarily be inexact. The ambition varies with 
the individual. Yet among their ambitions we would 
place the following: to wear good clothes; to enjoy 
music, merry-making, and social gatherings ; to live 
with parents, children, and relatives; to have plenty 
to eat; and to attain a higher social status through 
the acquisition of what may be termed literary at¬ 
tainments. 

The reader has, no doubt, made mental note of the 
fact that in the creation of his desires the Filipino has 
been profoundly influenced by his association for more 
than three centuries with the Spanish. The necessity 
of labor has not been urged upon him as the means to 


288 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


satisfy his personal ambitions, nor have the conditions 
of his life rendered such labor necessary. He has been 
taught, rather, to idealize the attainment of polished 
manners without really caring for useful knowledge, 
in the expectation that by this superficial accomplish¬ 
ment he would gain position, power, and wealth. 
When Spain was at the height of her influence her 
cavaliers thronged the islands; and chivalry, not in¬ 
dustrial achievement, was the ideal of the cavaliers. 

We have not here mentioned religion, believing this 
vitally important topic to be worthy of a separate 
chapter; yet the following observation of William H. 
Taft is of value in indicating the influence of Chris¬ 
tianity in preparing the people for the introduction 
of American ideals of government : 

“ The ninety per cent of the Christian Filipinos who 
do not speak Spanish are really Christians. They are 
capable of education, and they have no caste or arbi¬ 
trary customs which prevent their development along 
the lines of Christian civilization. They are merely in 
a state of Christian pupilage. They are imitative, they 
are glad to be educated, glad to study some language 
other than their own, and glad to follow European and 
American ideals. . . . They appreciate art; they appre¬ 
ciate statuary; they appreciate pictures. The capacity for 
developing skill is in this people. The children of the 
poorest and most ignorant learn with ease, and their 
parents are ambitious that they should learn.” 

The ilustrados , or educated members of the com¬ 
munity, are to be distinguished from the great body 
of the people. They are the ruling class, though there 



PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


289 


is no caste, and no fixed feudal relation. The son of 
a peasant may by ability and perseverance join the 
ranks of the ilustrados , a term applied to this class by 
their poor and uneducated brethren. The ilustrados 
(known also as the gente ilustrisima ), which compose 
much less than five per cent of the people, are in 
sympathy with American ideals, and frequently well 
informed as to American institutions. From this class 
are recruited the president's (mayors) of cities and the 
governors of provinces. The provincial governors are 
an exceptionally fine class of men, of wide sympathies, 
anxious to progress, and in constant touch with the 
Philippine Commission. To a great degree this is 
true of many of the municipal presidents. All whom 
we have ever met realize the altruistic desires of the 
Americans. Indeed, after witnessing the efforts of 
army officers, school-teachers, Civil Government em¬ 
ployees, constabulary officers, and business men, they 
could hardly fail to reach this conclusion. 

The business community of the Philippines, inclu¬ 
sive of all nationalities, — Filipinos, Chinese, Ger¬ 
mans, Spanish, English, and Americans, — is united. 
They do not desire any radical change of government. 
The Filipino business men are well content with the 
present system, and would view a change with alarm, 
being satisfied to wait for political independence until 
the people have demonstrated their capacity for com¬ 
plete self-government. 

The one great ideal of the Filipino people to-day is, 
perhaps, the achievement of industrial prosperity. 

19 


290 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


They realize that upon this attainment depends the 
fulfilment of further ambitions. The following quo¬ 
tation from a recent issue of “ La Vida Filipina,” a 
native daily, anent the visit of an American who ar¬ 
gued for vigorous development of the resources of the 
archipelago, is a characteristic utterance of the entire 
native press: — 

“ When Mr. X. solemnly affirmed before the Filipino 
Chamber of Commerce that united effort on the part of 
the business men and all those interested in the growth 
and well-being of a country has always and everywhere 
resulted in an increase of the prosperity of the entire 
community, he did nothing more than propound an axiom 
of political economy which requires no demonstration, 
and which constant and universal experience has con¬ 
firmed and corroborated. 

“ Our material wealth contains every possibility of at¬ 
taining vast proportions; but to-day, in its incipiency 
and easily frightened, it has scarcely any importance. 
It is very painful to our patriotism, and at the same time 
very encouraging to our hopes, to have to admit that Mr. 
X. is wholly justified when he says that the Philippine 
Islands possess an inexhaustible source of wealth, and 
that instead of sending away from the islands those 
millions of pesos which leave us year after year, for the 
purpose of obtaining those products which might easily 
be purchased at home, the latter should be produced 
here, thus keeping all this money in the country and in 
circulation among the people. 

“ The noble example of all that has been attempted 
and all that has been achieved in industry elsewhere, by 
encouraging and stimulating the spirit of cooperation and 
enterprise, shows us to what point we may hope and 



A GROUP OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS 

















PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


291 


expect to arrive here in the Philippines, provided all good 
patriots, ... in view of the supreme interest of the 
country, will but unite their efforts in the task of ex¬ 
ploiting the material wealth necessary to every people 
that aspires to be truly free. 

“ Every good Filipino patriot should lend a willing, 
and even an enthusiastic, ear to these strangers, who 
come to our shores to disseminate ideas and plans for our 
general betterment. 

“ Let us not forget the disinterested words of Mr. X., 
and let us all, in imitation of the lowly ants, carry our 
grain of sand to the common pile of our material pros¬ 
perity, which is also that of our most cherished ideals” 

To render great honor and devotion to the mem¬ 
ory of their patriots is a universal desire among the 
people of the Philippines. Foremost of those who 
have yielded their lives in the cause of the oppressed, 
is perhaps the lamented Dr. Josd Rizal y Mercado, a 
man of brilliant intellectual attainments, great knowl¬ 
edge of the world, and deep sympathies with his peo¬ 
ple, who met a glorious martyrdom at the importunity 
of the friars, on December 30, 1896. Dr. Rizal was a 
native of Calamba, a small community in Laguna 
Province about three hours’ journey from Manila. 
His father was a Filipino of some means and attain¬ 
ments, who sent the boy, as an extreme youth, to 
the Jesuits’ school in Manila. Dr. Rizal subsequently 
entered Madrid University, from which he graduated 
with high honors as a Doctor of Medicine and Philos¬ 
ophy. Later he studied in Paris and in German uni¬ 
versities, where, notwithstanding the difficulty of 


292 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


mastering a foreign language, he secured further de¬ 
grees. Although a Catholic, he had greatly resented 
the position of the Church in governmental affairs. 
To awake his people to a condition that to him, at 
least, seemed unbearable, he wrote and had published 
while in Germany a Spanish novel, “Noli me Tan¬ 
ge re,” couched in that grace of speech in which the 
educated Filipinos excel. This book was designed to 
disseminate in a popular form a knowledge of his 
country’s unhappiness. In reality it was an attack on 
the priesthood, exposing their immoralities. We will 
not here pass upon the truth or falsity of the dreadful 
charges against the friars. Of their great work in 
bringing Christianity to the people, we have attempted 
some praise in another chapter. 1 

Dr. Rizal, who had won fame as an oculist, pub¬ 
lished with similar intent another volume, “El Fil- 
ibusterismo.” Thus he became the leader of an 
anti-clerical party, which was regarded by the Spanish 
Government as highly dangerous and revolutionary. 
Early in 1893 he arrived in Hong-Kong, intending 
there to practise his profession. A letter from the 
supreme authorities summoned him to Manila, where 
he was immediately arrested and tried. Notwith¬ 
standing the extreme pressure brought to bear against 
him, so great was his popularity that instead of exe¬ 
cution he was banished to Dapitan, a town on the 
island of Mindanao. Here he remained four years, 
when he volunteered as an army surgeon in the 
1 Chapter XIX, “ Christianity in the Philippines.” 


PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


298 


Spanish Government service in Cuba, and his offer 
was accepted. Provided with a letter of recommen¬ 
dation from the well-known General Ramon Blanco, 
he was permitted to leave the Philippines. His 
enemies demanded his recall. On arrival in Singa¬ 
pore, Rizal was arrested, returned to Manila, sum¬ 
marily tried before a court martial, and publicly 
executed by order of General Polavieja in the pres¬ 
ence of two thousand troops and an immense throng. 
The tragedy was heightened by the fact that but 
one hour before his death Dr. Rizal was married to 
Miss Josephine Taupner, the adopted daughter of a 
wealthy American resident of Hong-Kong, whose 
sight had been restored by the young martyr’s genius. 
Rizal’s execution was a great blunder, for he was 
beloved among all classes, even by many of those 
to whom his views were antagonistic. 

Such a career as this could not fail to influence so 
reverential a people. The anniversary of Dr. Rizal’s 
execution is a public holiday, and photographs of the 
young martyr are exhibited throughout the islands 
with those of Presidents Washington, McKinley, and 
Roosevelt. 

Apart from the works of Dr. Rizal, which are very 
readable, no novel characteristic of the Philippines 
has yet been written. Nor have there been written 
works that have attracted wide attention throughout 
the world. Yet the people, when educated, develop 
literary tastes. In their writings and documents, and 
in the daily press, they display a carefulness in the 


294 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


use of words, and a grace and balance in their 
periods, which are not generally considered essential 
among a commercially disposed people. 

Vicente Francisco, a promising Filipino youth, 
exhibited some excellent sculpture in the Madrid 
Exposition, 1887. Some admirable statuary wood 
carvings were shown at the St. Louis Exposition in 
1904. In painting, the islands have produced at 
least one artist whose works have aroused wide and 
favorable attention in Madrid and other European 
centres. They have produced several vocalists, one 
of whom attained wide reputation in Europe; also 
some extremely capable and learned jurists who are 
acknowledged by their American associates as un¬ 
surpassed in their field. Chief Justice Cayetano 
Arellano, of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, 
is accounted by his confreres of the bench as the 
acknowledged leader of the judiciary. Attorney- 
General Gregorio Are tana has attained wide reputa¬ 
tion as an advocate. 

In fact, such has been the learning and the high 
reputation which the law as a profession has for many 
generations attained, among the Filipinos, that many 
of their attorneys have successfully crossed swords 
with the most distinguished lawyers of Spain. Among 
names which have won a reputation for integrity, 
knowledge of the law, and professional abilities may 
be mentioned those of Judges Ignacio Villamor, 
Manuel Araullo, Felix M. Rojas, all of the Court of 
First Instance, and many others. It is a commentary 


PHILIPPINE IDEALS 


295 


upon the confidence of the Government in the ability 
and worth of native jurists that out of sixty-three 
high judicial positions more than half are filled by 
Filipinos. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The best written evidence of Filipino character and ideals is 
assuredly to be found among the many documents written by 
the people themselves. A large number of translations have 
been published by the Government; undoubtedly access to 
such documents may be gained through the Secretary of the 
Interior, Manila, P. I. Other authorities are: “Archivo del 
Bibliofilo Filipino,” Vol. Ill, Manila; “ Catalogo abreviado de 
la biblioteca Filipino ” (a short catalogue of Philippine bibli¬ 
ography), by Retana, published Madrid, 1898 (it can be gotten 
in Manila); “Churchill’s Voyages,” Vol. IV; and “The Story 
of the Philippines,” Amos K. Fisk, New York, 1898. 


CHAPTER XVIII 

OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 

Outline of Topics: The connection between Christianity and 
the respect paid to woman in the Philippines — Parsimoniousness 
of many of the women — Common-law marriages — The rarity of 
prostitution — Devotion of the Filipina to her household, and to her 
husband’s interests — Characteristics of various tribes— Hospitality 
to travellers — Mission of the Filipinos probably to Christianize the 
Orient — Mission of United States Government in the Philippines 
to prepare the people for self-government — Desire of the Filipinos 
for independence. 

“ t | AHE Filipina woman is unique among the 
women of the East in that she is free of 
foot and face and waist, and stands up 
and looks straight ahead without fear or fashion.” 1 

The traveller in the Orient, if he be a careful stu¬ 
dent of the people, at once observes that the position 
of the Filipina woman is equal in every respect to that 
of the Filipino man. Her sex does not exclude her 
from privileges or opportunities for advancement that 
are open to her brothers, by whom her judgment and 
discretion are held in high regard. Assuredly there 
must be some relation between the facts that the Phil¬ 
ippines is the only Christian country in all the Orient, 
and that the Filipinos are the only people of the Far 
East among whom women are held mentally the equals 

1 Editorial comment in “ Manila Daily Commercial Bulletin.” 



OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 297 


and morally the superiors of men. The practice of the 
Christian religion is undoubtedly responsible for the 
absence of rules discriminating against the female sex. 
It is certain, moreover, that respect for womankind is 
a trait innate in the character of the people; and it 
seems natural to assume that their ready acceptance 
of Christianity was aided by the open disposition which 
had brought them to esteem their wives and daughters. 
Even among the wild tribes the woman is as indepen¬ 
dent as the man, and excepting the Mohammedan 
Moros and a few tribes having a patriarchal organiza¬ 
tion, she is, as far as custom goes, a free agent . 1 

In many parts of the country it is customary for 
the husband to turn over all his earnings to his wife, 
who is a remarkably thrifty and industrious helpmeet. 
Oftentimes she not only manages her own household, 
but directs the activities of her spouse. In many re¬ 
gions the Spanish and Americans arrange for the em¬ 
ployment of the husband through the wife, and if she 
pledges that he shall go to work, the man is reason¬ 
ably certain to report at the appointed time. Indeed, so 

1 Many have argued that the right of suffrage be extended to the 
women. Bishop Nozaleda, who lived in the Philippines for twenty- 
six years, goes even further: “The woman is better than the man 
here in every way, — in intelligence, in virtue, and in labor; to a 
great, degree more economical. If any rights or privileges are to 
be granted to the natives, do not give them to the men, but to the 
women. . . . Every law of justice demands that even in political 
life they should have privileges over the men.” The Bishop’s 
conclusion is worthy of record. He says: “ I must render just 
tribute to the American army here; I have noticed all along the 
consideration they have had for the women ; it is worthy of 
comment.” 


298 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


saving are the women, and so desirous of obtaining a 
competence, that not infrequently they have been char¬ 
acterized as most penurious. Travellers and historians 
have frequently observed that in middle and old age 
the trait often becomes marked. For a pittance moth¬ 
ers and grandmothers have engaged their daughters 
to foreigners as mistresses under the guise of seam¬ 
stresses and household servants. When this relation¬ 
ship ceased, the hand of the young woman would be 
eagerly sought in marriage by the native youths, who 
would consider that the girl had been more than ordi¬ 
narily attractive to have won the favor of one of the 
superior race. Among her own people the relationship 
would not be concealed, but would become a matter 
of pride. If a child were born to the union, her hap¬ 
piness would be complete. The friars exerted great 
influence over the people, and they instructed their 
charges to bring them word of any couples living in a 
state of wedlock who had not been joined in formal 
ceremony; thus the performance of the marriage rite 
was always emphasized among the natives, who attach 
to it the greatest importance. 

It would not be fair to judge the Orient by Western 
ideals. Those Filipinos who live in a state of consen¬ 
sual wedlock, or a permanent but unlawful relation, 
should not be regarded as immoral but as unmoral; 
the natives have simply not realized the necessity for 
a formal marriage contract. We mention the condition 
lest it may be carelessly and wrongly assumed that the 
people are regardless of chastity, a virtue upon which 



NATIVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN 

Igorrote women at work in the rice fields — Bicol school 
children — A group of Bicol women, 

Southern Luzon 
















OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 299 


their Christian teachings place great emphasis. 1 Al¬ 
though the standards in this regard are not so clearly- 
defined as in the more civilized countries, yet it is 
amazing that the proportion of single persons in the 
Philippines (56.4 per cent of the total population) is 
less than that in the United States (5T.9 per cent) or 
of any other known country where censuses have been 
taken, except British India, where the child marriages 
exceedingly limit the proportion of single persons. 
The addiction of women to a wrong life is practically 
unknown outside of European centres, and even in 
the few large cities, chiefly Manila, native women 
form but three-tenths of the total number so engaged. 
The fact that but one in 25,000 of the women is guilty 
is a wonderful commentary upon the purity of the 
Filipina woman; and this record cannot, so far as 
we can find from statistics or deduce from our obser¬ 
vation, be duplicated anywhere in the world. All in 
all, the woman of the Philippines occupies a high 
position; her moral status and the moral status of the 
nation can in no wise be compared to those of the 
Japanese. Among the people a common-law marriage, 
though unusual, has much of the binding force of the 
ceremony. And the father or mother of children is 
fanatically jealous of the honor of his (or her) partner 
in wedlock. Many parents of large families in remote 

1 According to the census of 1902 the proportion of the consen- 
sually married to the total population was, among whites and natives, 
7.9 per cent ; among the native population it varies from 6.4 in 
Zambales Province to 1.8 in Pampanga Province, the average being 
under 3 per cent. 


3Q0 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


regions have been married by padres who learned that 
the marriage had not yet been consecrated. The pro¬ 
portion of illegitimate births among natives is less 
than in the United States; but between natives and 
whites it is somewhat greater. 

The Filipina woman is deeply religious. She is de¬ 
voted to her husband and children, and she is almost 
always busy. Her great influence in the home is, 
therefore, a moulding factor in the character of the 
people and in the future of the country. The nation 
consists essentially of homes, rather than of muni¬ 
cipalities or of provinces. Indeed, in no other sense 
may the people be conceived of as having a com¬ 
mon nationality, since members of the various tribes 
speak different dialects and are uninformed one as to 
another. In his home centres the life, and practically 
the whole range of thought, of the Filipino peasant. 
Without his home he would scarcely seem to belong 
to the Filipino race. 

The following observations of various provincial 
governors (mostly natives), applying to the population 
in their respective jurisdictions, may throw consider¬ 
able light upon the character and circumstances of 
the people. 

“ The people are of a cheerful and lively temperament, 
lovers of company, diversions, and pleasures. They pre¬ 
serve in its purity the faith and religion of their ances¬ 
tors ; they are temperate in eating, modest in dress, and 
simple in manner. They are pacific, mild, respectful, 
hospitable, and grateful to those who treat them well, 


OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 301 


but very sensitive and silent and patient under mistreat¬ 
ment, and quarrelsome and vengeful when a good oppor¬ 
tunity offers. They hope to secure self-government by 
pacific evolution from the proverbial disinterestedness of 
the magnanimity of Monroe.” — Governor of Masbate 
Province (Tag&log dialect). 

“ A very notable characteristic of the people here is 
the aggressiveness displayed by the females, and their 
evident superiority over the males in business capacity. 
Whenever a family rises from the lower ranks of society 
to a position of comparative affluence and social impor¬ 
tance, it is usually found to be due to the tact, energy, 
and close attention of the business member of the matri¬ 
monial partnership.”—Governor Pieraontel of Ambos 
Camarines Province (Bicol dialect). 

“ The population is divided into three social classes. 
The first is composed of families who on account of their 
wealth and culture enjoy a leisurely and independent 
position; the second class is composed for the most part 
of honest and industrious families possessed of small 
properties, who are very economical, and although hav¬ 
ing but little ambition, are lovers of order and hospi¬ 
tality. They are happy on account of having but few 
necessities, and enjoy a position relatively comfortable. 
The third class is formed of the poor, who are the farm 
laborers, servants, fishermen, etc. Their lack of educa¬ 
tion has created but few necessities, and they are there¬ 
fore indolent. They are generally sober and strong. 
Most of them eat but twice a day; their food consists 
of corn meal cooked with water, and small salted fish. 
The average daily expense of a family in the country is 
about twenty-five cents (Mexican), while those in town 
live on from forty to fifty cents per day.” — Governor of 
Negros Oriental Province. 


302 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


“ Tlie wealth and poverty of the country are, as a rule, 
permanent. The former is the permanent condition, if 
so it can be called, of the higher class, which is the 
student and industrial class, because it pursues the ideal 
of living comfortably, luxuriously, and in pleasure. 
The upper class with a moderate fortune seldom is 
ruined, but on the contrary its fortune increases daily. 
The wealthy Filipino does not generally desire to under¬ 
take daring speculations. He is satisfied with gaining 
a little, and that little on a very safe basis. Almost all 
are engaged in agriculture. Poverty is the permanent 
characteristic of the working classes. There have been 
cases in which a laborer by constant labor, honest 
habits, and careful calculations finds himself possessed 
with an enviable competence.” — Governor of Negros 
Occidental Province (Yisayan). 

“The common people are given to credulity rather 
than superstition; they have great faith in the Catholic 
religion, some of whose saints are venerated with great 
devotion, the inhabitants of one pueblo making pilgrim¬ 
age to others at the time of their religious feasts. They 
are as a class industrious, and the proportion of idlers 
and vagrants is very small indeed. The women are not 
only good helpmeets for the men, but compete with them, 
and at times, as in household industries and in small re¬ 
tail stores, surpass them.” — Governor of Cebu Province 
(Yisayan). 

“ Due to the very primitive customs of the inhabitants, 
family relations are very close, to such an extent that 
many, even though they have married sons and daughters, 
do not permit them to leave home, and are very sorry to 
part from them if they do; so that it may very frequently 
be observed that in one house there live the grand¬ 
parents, children, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and 


OBSERVATIONS AND BITS Ctf TRAVEL 303 


nephews; and due also to this patriarchal custom the 
young girls are watched and advised by their near 
relatives. When they are ready to marry they con¬ 
tract the legal marriage before a priest of their religion, 
and frequently without leaving the house of their par¬ 
ents or the bosom of their families, by reason of such 
love. 

“ The use of alcoholic or other intoxicating beverages 
is not very general among the people. They bathe four 
or more times a week, changing clothing after every 
bath. Their houses are hardly a protection against the 
weather.” — Governor of Tarlac (Ilocano people, north¬ 
west coast of Luzon). 

“ The natives are always prone to abuse their authority, 
if some one here is not above them. They are terrible 
to their own people — very tyrants. The presidents 
(mayors) of towns, who are natives themselves, hold their 
subordinates in terror. They govern by fear here.” 
— Bishop of Vigan (who lived for ten years among the 
Ilocanos). 

Travelling through the Philippines one gets an idea 
of how the people really live. Once we came upon a 
little remote barrio, or settlement, in the interior, 
about four hundred miles by the crooked footpaths 
from Manila. The tropic night had just swooped 
down, and from the little native homes along the one 
street there came the yellow glint of the coco oil can¬ 
dles, and sounded thence the romantic tinkle of the 
mandolins. Hardly had our party gone half way 
down the street when we were addressed by an elderly 
Filipina woman. 

“ Good evening, Excellencies. Have you yet had 


304 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


your suppers ? Will you not honor me by feasting in 
my poor dwelling and remaining over night ? ” 

The good woman explained that she was the wife 
of the presidente of the settlement, who had gone 
eighteen miles away — a long journey — to attend an 
important lawsuit. In turn she introduced us to over 
twenty others who had gathered to bid the strangers 
welcome. Any one would have met the same wel¬ 
come any day in the year. After supper what talking 
there was! The old lady — she was over seventy — 
had heard much about the Americans. They must 
be, she thought, a wonderful people. But did they, 
in building their railroads and great cities, think 
enough of their souls ? For her part she felt the hap¬ 
piest time of life was when one gets old and may sit 
at night with the children and grandchildren about, 
and talk over the simple events of the day. She had 
never been to Manila, nor had she ever seen the ocean. 
But the steam cars were coming near that way. 
“ Then,” said the good wife of the presidente, “ then, 
sehors, when the steam cars are accomplished, I shall 
visit the great city of Manila. My husband has a 
map showing where the steam cars shall run.” As a 
girl, she had learned Spanish in a convent from a 
padre who was very wise and good. He had told her 
much of Spain and Europe; but she was getting too 
old to travel far. Besides, the ninos (children) would 
forget her if she went away. No, she did not know 
much about the war, — in answer to our question, — 
but the insurgents had destroyed much of their 


OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 305 


furniture and carried away the live stock. So we 
talked until after one o’clock. The old lady was an 
intelligent questioner, for her limited knowledge; 
and in return she described to us every tree and shrub 
in the locality; how many plants should be grown, 
and what was the profit in growing them. She turned 
occasionally to a bit of personal gossip. 

In the morning she would set us fairly on our way. 
There were two roads, one of which was overflowed 
by rice paddies and swampy; the other road was dry. 
Justito Esteban would guide us. But Justito, though 
he had been over these roads many times, led us into 
an impenetrable morass, and then vanished. Hours 
were spent in toilsome wading and plodding through 
stagnant water. Finally there appeared a dry road, a 
great church spire in the distance, and, at length, an¬ 
other village. A little boy meets us on the village 
street and gravely conducts us to the home of the 
presidents who is an abogado (lawyer). The advocate, 
a stoutish native man of fifty, who has just awakened 
from his siesta, shuffles out in his panuelas (slippers) 
to greet us, inviting us in with graciousness and turn¬ 
ing our horses over to a couple of little serving-boys. 
No, indeed, he will respect our wishes and go to no 
trouble to prepare a meal. He has five daughters, 
whom he presents, and who sit shyly without uttering 
more than a monosyllabic yes or no. He informs us 
he wishes he had a son, and reads to us a point of law 
which evidently he has committed to memory, as the 
book is held upside down. In two hours he informs 
20 


306 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


us that a slight meal is ready. But we find it to be a 
bounteous repast, and we sit down with several neigh¬ 
bors around a generous board. Being advised to go no 
farther at the risk of offending our host, we remain 
during the night, having covered but five miles for 
the day’s travel. Each day for months is a repetition 
of this hospitality, which never wearies. 

What may be conceived as the mission of the 
Filipino people in the Orient? Toward the other 
Orientals they promise to have the power of exerting 
a peculiar and distinct influence. Representatives of 
the great Malay branch of the human family, whose 
daring navigators ventured in antiquity upon un¬ 
known seas in frail craft, and spread from southeastern 
Asia through all the vast archipelago we call Malay¬ 
sia, they have in their blood the power of carrying to 
other peoples of the Orient those institutions which 
they themselves have received and made their own. 
Thus they, the only Christian Orientals, may at some 
far future date impress the great East with the most 
ethical of all religions, one that illuminates history 
and elevates mankind. 

But first, and above all, the Filipino people have a 
mission unto themselves. As the individual may not 
attain to leadership among men until he has made the 
hard and persistent efforts that lead to achievement, 
so with the nation. The man who succeeds must 
work, and work hard, — not alone for the proceeds of 
the work, but as well for the invaluable discipline that 
attends the struggle for success. Material greatness 


OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 307 

depends upon material prosperity, the prosperity that 
comes to a nation of achieving and united individuals. 
It depends, too, upon noble ideals and the possession 
of those elemental virtues to which the people of the 
Philippines are devoted. 

The mission of the United States in the Philippines 
is clear: it is to develop in the humble peasant the 
desire for achievement, — a desire latent in his char¬ 
acter though for centuries repressed; to show him 
how to work and to give him the opportunity to work, 
to protect him from designing or unscrupulous leaders, 
to enlighten him as to the responsibilities of free gov¬ 
ernment, and to educate him personally in their exer¬ 
cise, so that at last he may stand before the world as 
a free and prosperous man who may bear his part and 
have a voice in the administration of his country. 
This volume is written with no purpose of proving 
the justness of our occupancy or of our subsequent 
course in the Philippines, yet every impartial ob¬ 
server must be impressed with the fact that there 
could not have been a more auspicious event in the 
people’s history than their passing from the cruel mis- 
government of Spain to the control of the nation 
which above all others has made sacrifices for the 
cause of human liberty, the abolition of slavery, and 
the happiness and prosperity of all. American admin¬ 
istrators in the islands have been much hampered by 
unjust criticisms from those at home, who could not 
fully understand or appreciate the situation. This 
was particularly true in the early days of the military 


308 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


occupation, when severity was necessary in order to 
establish the prestige of the American flag and to do 
away with the lawlessness that follows war. But now 
greater peace reigns in the country than in any former 
period of its history. The common people — the 
farmers and the fishermen — enjoy a greater degree of 
personal liberty than they have ever known. Their 
happiness does not depend upon the caprice of their 
immediate principales, since justice inheres in a stable 
government wherein all men are held equal before the 
law. It is true that previous to the American occupa¬ 
tion there was great economic prosperity. But its 
advantages were enjoyed by a very limited class only. 
And the rising aspirations of the educated Filipinos 
were opposed by a reactionary party, who saw in the 
advancement of their charges the end of their domina¬ 
tion. To-day events have raised the political and in¬ 
tellectual aspirations of the race. The ideas once held 
by an extreme few are being communicated to the 
mass of the people. The humble peasant now enter¬ 
tains the hope of social advancement for his children. 

Perhaps we could mention no topic upon which 
there are more conflicting views, or one which pre¬ 
sents a greater diversity of opinions — all of them 
backed by arguments more or less logical — than the 
subject of Philippine independence. We do not 
venture, however, to express an opinion as to the 
merits of these contested points, but rather present 
them all as impartially as possible. There are those 
who maintain that independence should not be 



MUNICIPAL BUILDING, SANTA CRUZ, MARINDUQUE 



PRESIDENTE’S (MAYOR’S) RESIDENCE 








OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 809 

granted to the islands, but that they should speedily 
be made a Territory of the United States and possess 
the same privileges and opportunities as Alaska and 
Hawaii. On the other hand, there are those who 
assert that the United States has no rights in the 
Philippines, but should speedily evacuate, leaving the 
people to settle their own problems among themselves 
and with the nations of the world. Among this class 
are those who argue for immediate independence. 
These are insignificant as to numbers, and are com¬ 
posed of Americans in the United States who are 
opposed to the extension of the flag to foreign soil; 
and of a few influential but not wealthy Filipino 
journalists and lawyers, who generally have no finan¬ 
cial stake in the country, but possibly expect that 
a radical change would result beneficially to them. 
As a class the wealthy Filipinos are extremely con¬ 
servative, and would hesitate to adopt extreme meas¬ 
ures of any kind. Then, too, there are those who 
believe that the American people are in sympathy 
with our course, and who desire to see the resources 
of the islands developed in a legitimate manner, and 
the people enlightened as to self-government, so that 
as rapidly as they demonstrate their fitness they may 
attain real industrial and political independence. 

There is no doubt that the ambition of great 
numbers of the natives is for independence. This 
spirit is being largely fostered by American adminis¬ 
trators, so that it will become general among the 
people, and they will realize what real independence 


310 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


means. The educated class seem convinced that in¬ 
dependence may he secured at the proper time by 
legal means, and are content with the present form of 
government. Almost the entire people would view 
with great alarm, if not with horror, the withdrawal 
of the United States, which would mean either inter¬ 
nal dissension or their passing into the hands of a 
foreign power. Of course, this reference to possible 
internal dissension does not mean that the great mass 
of the people are natural^ rebellious, but simply that, 
lacking a guiding and kindly hand, they would be 
commanded by dozens of ambitious leaders, each 
anxious to usurp supreme authority; for, the people 
being divided into many dialect-speaking tribes, they 
would not readily unite under any one leader. The 
majority of them, including a considerable portion of 
the upper classes, are totally ignorant of the responsi¬ 
bilities of self-government, and should they set up 
a republic, its government would be republican in 
name only. However, under a just and able — though 
stern — autocrat like President Diaz of Mexico, a nom¬ 
inal republic might possibly attain a great measure 
of success. 

The natives are to-day deeply impressed with the 
sincerity and disinterestedness of their American 
administrators. The more intelligent, as a rule, 
realize that it will doubtless be many years before the 
United States can safely withdraw and leave the 
people with a safe government of their own; for it 
will, of course, take long to educate the great masses 


OBSERVATIONS AND BITS OF TRAVEL 811 


of the people. It may take a generation or more, and 
it may take very much less time. No one really can 
say as to that. The success of the schools and 
elections is very gratifying; and not less important is 
the development of a communal sense of responsibility. 
However, all will be gratified when at length our 
mission has been accomplished, and we can leave 
safely with the people a form of government such as 
no Oriental country has before possessed, and which 
will be the fulfilment of the greater liberties for 
which they are hoping at the present time. Trusting 
to the United States, which is scrupulously fulfilling 
its obligations to the Philippines and to the world, 
the people are familiarizing themselves with the 
institutions of free government now provided them, 
and they will undoubtedly in time demonstrate their 
capacity for absolute home rule. 1 

1 The official expression of the American Administration in 
regard to independence will be found on page 414 of the Appendix 
to this volume. 


CHAPTER XIX 

CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 

Outline of Topics : The Spaniards’ conquest of the Philippines 
contrasted with their conquests of Peru and Mexico — Willingness 
of the natives to embrace Christianity and Western customs — Be¬ 
neficent work of the padres — Conquest by Mohammedans prevented 
by the opportune arrival of Legaspi — Effects of Mohammedanism 
on the Moros —The Moro juramentado — Mission work of the friars 
— Their opposition to the development of Philippine resources — 
Reasons for the people’s dislike of them — Protestant churches — 
Bibliography. 

O N the Luneta, the beautiful public boulevard 
| of Manila, and overlooking the Bay of 
Manila, stands a striking monument in 
bronze . 1 The two figures, Legaspi, the founder of 
the present city, and Urdaneta, the Augustinian friar 
who accompanied him, are instinct with life and en¬ 
ergy. Legaspi, on the right, bears in his left hand 
the standard of Spain; on the left and slightly * in 
advance of Legaspi, Urdaneta carries in his right 
hand and immediately in front of the Spanish stan¬ 
dard, the cross. This splendid and truthful work of 

1 Querol, a celebrated Spanish sculptor, designed the monument, 
which was cast in bronze and sent in pieces to Manila. When the 
American forces captured the city, the pieces of the monument 
were found in the custom house. General Davis, commanding the 
military Department of Manila, properly decided that it would be 
a graceful act on the part of the American authorities to erect the 
monument. 



CHARACTERISTIC VIEWS 

Street in Vigan, Northern Luzon — Monument to 
Legaspi and Urdaneta — Interior of 
the Cathedral, Manila 
























CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 813 


art “satisfies the sense of admiration that one feels 
in reading of the enterprise, courage, and fidelity to 
duty that distinguished those heroes of Spain who 
braved the then frightful dangers of the deep to carry 
Christianity and European civilization into the far-off 
Orient.” 

It was but natural that so susceptible a people as 
the Filipinos capitulated to the devout spirit in which 
the early missionaries undertook the Christian conquest 
of the Philippines. The occupation of the country was 
not in the least like the conquests of Pizarro and Cor¬ 
tez : the natives were treated with great kindness and 
consideration; the priests exerted every effort to con¬ 
ciliate them. When Legaspi entered into negotiations 
with the native peoples, he found that there was no 
other government than that of many petty rulers ; and 
these, being jealous of one another, were easily induced 
to acknowledge allegiance to the King of Spain, and 
were thus quickly brought under the influence of the 
active missionary efforts of the friars who accompanied 
Legaspi. “ The willingness of the natives to embrace 
Christianity, their gentle natures, and their love of 
die solemn and beautiful ceremonies of the Catho¬ 
lic Church enabled the friars to spread Christianity 
through the islands with remarkable rapidity.’ , “ His¬ 
tory affords few instances in which sovereignty was 
extended over so large a territory and so many people 
with less bloodshed. ,, 

The priests of Spain penetrated to the utmost parts 
of the Philippine Archipelago, carrying the Christian 


314 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


religion and bringing with them its symbols in the 
form of some of the most exquisite edifices that are 
to be found anywhere in the world. A few years ago 
a widely known explorer visited the Philippines to 
secure material for a book of travel in the interests of 
a prominent publishing house. In travelling through 
the interior of Mindanao he reached a point where, he 
wrote in his diary, no white man had before penetrated. 
Turning a bend in the stream which he was following, 
he there came upon a mission building surrounded 
by a few lowly dwellings in the midst of the forest and 
attended by an aged Spanish padre. Thus the devout 
padres extended their labors into the most remote 
portions of the archipelago and to the lowliest of 
all the people. 

More than nine-tenths of the entire population, in¬ 
cluding the Moros (Mohammedan Malays) and pagan 
tribes, are Christians. To-day these Christian people 
are unique among all the races of the East. They are 
an Oriental people with the religious ideals of the 
Occident, and are, by virtue of these ideals, closer to 
the white race than any other Orientals. Their faces 
are turned to the West; and as they develop in mate¬ 
rial ways and become better educated, the differences 
between them and the peoples of the Occident are not 
heightened but subdued, since the greatest differences 
between the races are not physical, but are founded 
on ideals and customs. “ They have among them no 
traditions which prevent the development of the people 
along European and American lines. Their Christian 


CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 315 


education has led them to embrace, when sufficiently 
educated, European and American ideals. Those who 
are educated and wealthy among them adopt Euro¬ 
pean customs, European dress, European manners, 
with eagerness.” 1 

When it is taken into consideration that the num¬ 
ber of padres was inconsiderable as compared with 
the vast population they Christianized, their influence 
toward a higher standard of living seems amazing. 
Those worthy men taught the people to lay out town 
sites, to build churches, roads, and bridges ; they min¬ 
istered to the sick and needy, and instructed them in 
hygiene and the cure of diseases. They introduced 
new fruits and vegetables and encouraged their plant¬ 
ing. In fact, there are many gardens cultivated under 
direction of the priests at the present time. They 
exerted their influence for humility, gentleness, and 
truthfulness among their flocks. There is no native 
who does not owe much to their advice and ministra¬ 
tions. The padres frequently are men of great enter¬ 
prise and resolution. The finest roads and trails in 
interior Luzon are those built under the direction of 
Padre Juan de Villaverde. They extend through the 
hills in every direction; and though it is more than a 
decade since the worthy padre died, they are still kept 
in good repair by the people whom he taught to labor 
upon them. 

Beyond all comparison Christianity is the most 
priceless heritage that ever could have been, or ever 
i Wm. H. Taft, 1902. 


816 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


will be, brought to the Filipino people through con¬ 
tact with other races. The circumstances of the early 
Christian conquest bring to the Christian religion in 
the Philippines an especial significance. When the 
Spanish took possession of Manila, Mohammedan mis¬ 
sionaries, who had already reached to the uttermost 
parts of the Malay Archipelago, had extended their 
field of endeavor from Mindanao, Sulu, and the south¬ 
ern Philippines to Manila Bay. The advent of the 
Mohammedan priests was probably very recent at the 
time of Legaspi’s arrival, for the number of their 
converts was inconsiderable. Indeed, the Moros had 
not arrived in sufficient numbers to have conquered 
the then small Tagalog population of Manila. 

“ Undoubtedly, if Legaspi had at that time not come 
into the islands, all the people of the archipelago, instead 
of only five per cent of them, would now have been 
Mohammedan. ... It should be borne in mind that 
these are a Malay people, and that nowhere in the world, 
except in the Philippine Islands, has the Malay been 
made a Christian. In other places where the race abides, 
Mohammedanism has become its religion; and there*is 
no condition of mind which offers such resistance to the 
inculcating of Christianity as that found in the followers 
of the Prophet of Mecca.” 

Had Mohammedanism become the dominant religion 
of the Philippines, their history would have been 
one of bloodshed instead of comparative peace. 
Mohammedanism among the Philippine Malays, pos¬ 
sibly more than anywhere else, has instilled into the 


CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 317 


minds of the people a disposition toward continued 
warfare. Students of Islamism have detected many 
changes in the faith as practised by tne most enlight¬ 
ened Mohammedans and by many of the Moro tribes. 
Mohammedanism appeals to violent and fanatical im¬ 
pulses rather than to the gentle nature of the Malay. 
Perhaps we cannot better explain the effect of 
Mohammedanism upon the Moro than by quoting from 
a recent article by the author in a New York journal . 1 

“ The Moro is a Mohammedan, but he has perverted 
the Mohammedan belief until at times it is a weird, gro¬ 
tesque, and terrible religion. In the heart of the Moro 
there is no fear of death ; it is to him but an incident of 
life; and his belief, as he has fashioned it, is that he 
who dies in battle is cleansed from sin and goes straight 
to the bosoms of the houris in paradise. The Moro’s 
idea of government is force; he has never known any¬ 
thing else; if you are kind to him he thinks you fear 
him. His world is ruled by fear, not love. He has no 
definite comprehension of abstract principles of govern¬ 
ment, nor does he appreciate an absent government. 
His allegiance is personal, and it is paid to the datto or 
American officer with whom he comes in daily contact. 
This disposition to personal allegiance has been handed 
down to him through legions of dattos , or feudal chief¬ 
tains. Until the American occupation, these dattos were 
continually at war with each other; and it is largely 
through this lack of unity that the Moros never subju¬ 
gated much of the territory beyond the country in which 
they lived. Their wars with the Filipinos, the peaceable 
Christian tribes who live hundreds of miles to the north, 


1 “ Leslie’s Weekly.' 


318 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


were confined to acts of piracy and raiding. His religion, 
as set forth in the Koran, tells the Moro he must obey 
without question his duly constituted superiors. But 
the Moro is impressionable, and under rigid personal 
leadership makes a faithful servant. For this reason the 
Moros of the island of Mindanao, who have been 
thoroughly conquered and subjugated, will make and are 
making excellent citizens, while the Moros of the little 
island of Sulu, never having been decisively defeated by 
the Spaniards, knew no law but that of their dattos. 
Under bad dattos they are bad men, but under good 
dattos they may be good men. These men were a bad 
lot [speaking of Moro bandits slain on Dajo Crater, 
March, 1906], and it is unfair to judge the average Moro 
by them. 

“The Moro is subject, when not under the influence 
of a self-contained ruler, to strange, murderous fits of 
insanity. When a Moro, without effort on his part, be¬ 
comes seized with a desire to murder, he is said to have 
“ run amuck,” and at such times he will rush wildly, 
slashing and killing every one he chances to meet, even 
his own people. When, however, he purposely works 
himself into a religious frenzy, it is with the desire to 
kill Christians, and, by the faith of the prophet, ascend 
forthwith into paradise. The Moro in this state of pas¬ 
sion is said to be juramentado. He has then taken a 
religious oath, perhaps administered by some sacred 
hadji who has duly made his pilgrimage to Mecca; he 
has bound himself up so that he suffers excruciating 
agonies, and through physical suffering is reduced to a 
nervous frenzy. Having once taken the oath, the Moro 
juramentado is doomed to slay until at last he himself is 
slain. Here in Jolo, since the American occupation, a 
man went juramentado while the American band was 
playing on the plaza. In shooting the Moro, who had 



CHARACTERISTIC TYPES 

A Moro dattqand his retinue — Moro girl embarking in a native boat 
— A Negrito boy — Children of the Igorrotes, 

Nueva Viscava Province 


























CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 319 


mingled with the soldiers, a soldier was slightly injured, 
and a musician who was playing the trombone had his 
instrument perforated in several places. A Spanish 
general, who was troubled by having his soldiers killed 
by juramentados, about twenty years ago, shelled the 
residence of the Sultan with field-guns. The Sultan, 
who was absent at the time of the shelling, rushed into 
Jolo, saying: * General, your soldiers are killing my 
people. Stop them!' ‘I cannot stop them, as they 
have gone juramentado , 7 replied the general. He had 
no more trouble with juramentados.” 

Mohammedanism, however, has been confined to a 
small population in a remote section of the country. 
In contrast is the spirit induced by Christianity and 
the confidence which the people have in their Christian 
leaders. “ So great and complete became the control 
which the friars exercised over the natives by reason of 
their sincere devotion to their interests, that Spain 
found it possible to police the islands with very few 
people.” In 1600 the Spanish military force was 4T0 
officers and men; in 1636 it was 1762 Spaniards and 
140 Filipino soldiers; from 1828 to 1896 the Spanish 
forces varied from 1,000 to 3,000 officers and men. 

Throughout the islands the Spanish padres estab¬ 
lished convents and institutions of learning. Hospi¬ 
tals for clergy, indigent natives, sailors, and others 
were early founded in Manila, Cavite, Pila, Los 
Banos, Nueva Caceres and many other cities. Be¬ 
tween 1591 and 1615 the friars had sent missionaries 
to Japan to succor the poor and the lepers of that 
country, so that there were in Japan when the ports 


320 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 

of that country were closed about thirty-two priests, 
of whom twenty-six were crucified or burned alive. 
When the Mikado expelled the Christians, he sent to 
the Governor-General of the Philippines three junks 
laden with 150 lepers, with a letter in which he stated 
that as the Spanish friars were so anxious to provide 
for the poor and afflicted, he sent them men who were 
really sorely oppressed. These unfortunates were 
cared for at the hospital of San Lazaro, Manila, which 
has ever since been used for lepers. 

Speaking of what the friars accomplished, Captain 
John R. M. Taylor, Fourteenth Infantry, U.S. A., says: 

“ To accomplish these results required untiring energy 
and a high enthusiasm among the missionaries, in whom 
the fierce fires of religious ardor must have consumed 
many of the more kindly attributes of humanity. Men 
who had lived among savages, trying to teach them the 
advantages of peace and the reasonableness of a higher 
life, who had lived among them speaking their tongues 
until they had almost forgotten their own, must have 
felt, when promoted to the higher places in the religious 
hierarchy, that their sole duty was to increase the bound¬ 
aries of the vineyard in which they had worked so long. 
Spain had ceased to be everything to them; their order 
was their country, and the cure of souls and the accumu¬ 
lation of means for the cure of souls was the truest 
patriotism. . . . They were shepherds of a very erring 
flock. Spanish officials came and went, but the minis¬ 
ters of the Church remained; and, as they grew to be in¬ 
terpreters of the wants of the people, and in many cases 
their protectors against spoliation, power fell into their 
hands.” 


OHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 321 


In an address at Notre Dame University, October, 
1904, the Hon. Wm. H. Taft throws a judicial light on 
the work of the friars in the Philippines, the veneration 
in which they have been and, indeed, are now, in the 
case of the few that remain, held by the people, and 
the causes which led to the hostility toward the 
religious orders. 

“ The influence of the friars was thrown against the 
investigation and development of the resources of the 
Philippines. The priests reasoned that the working of 
the mines in Peru and Mexico had meant suffering and 
death to many of the natives, and that it was better to 
let the mines in the Philippines, if mines they were, lie 
unopened. Few Spanish merchants lived permanently in 
the islands, and these were chiefly engaged in the trans¬ 
shipment of Asiatic merchandise from Manila, and had 
but little interest in Philippine products. The internal 
development of the islands was neglected. Taxes were 
light, and there was little money to make improvements 
or to establish schools. One Spanish-speaking priest 
among three or four thousand natives could not do much 
in spreading the knowledge of the language. To know 
Spanish meant contact with the outside world, and the 
priests feared — not civilization, but the evils of civiliza- 
tion. Modern material progress seemed to the Spanish 
missionaries of little worth, compared with keeping their 
people innocent.” 

Mr. Taft here comments on the fact that, notwith¬ 
standing the policy of the friars, they founded many 
excellent institutions of high learning, one of which 

is older than either Harvard or Yale. 

21 


322 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


“How has it come about that the Philippine people 
now manifest such hostility to those who were for 250 
years their sincere and earnest friends, benefactors, and 
protectors ? There were several causes for the change. 
The intimate affectionate relations existing between 
the friars and their native parishioners had led to 
the education of natives as priests, and to the accept¬ 
ance of some of them as members of the religious orders. 
Before 1800, of the bishops and archbishops who had been 
appointed in the islands, twelve were natives; but after 
the first years of the nineteenth century no such places of 
preferment were offered them, and after 1832 they were 
not allowed to become members of the religious orders. 
This change of policy created a cleavage between the 
native clergy and the friars, which gradually widened. 
The inevitable result of this policy, as soon as any small 
percentage of the Philippine people passed out from 
under the pupilage of the Spanish friars, was to create an 
opposition to them among the people. 

“ Secondly, the friars had become, generally by pur¬ 
chase, large landowners. They held land enough to 
make up 250,000 acres in the Tagalog provinces in the 
immediate neighborhood of Manila. This land, which 
was rented by them to thousands of tenants, was the best 
cultivated land in the islands, and was admirably suited 
for the cheap conveyance of the crops to market. Charges 
were made that the friars were collecting exorbitant 
rents; and other difficulties arose, which, however free 
from blame the friars may have been, contributed very 
decidedly to the growing feeling on the part of the native 
people against their former friends and protectors.” 

But the fact that the friars were induced to act on 
behalf of the Government was perhaps the greatest 
cause of difficulty. Mr. Taft observes: 


CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 323 


“ The Spanish Government looked to the Spanish 
friars, because of their intimacy with the people and 
control over them, to do what was necessary in ferreting 
out sedition or treason, supposed to be then rife. By 
custom, and subsequently by law, to the parish priest 
was given complete supervisory power over the munici¬ 
pal government of his town. His civil functions became 
very many, and one of his chief duties was supposed by 
the people to be to report to the central Government at 
Manila the persons in his parish whose political views or 
actions were hostile to the Spanish regime . The friars 
thus became involved in a reactionary policy, which 
placed them in opposition to the people, and made them 
responsible in the popular mind for the severity with 
which the Spanish Government punished those suspected 
of liberal political opinions. So bitter did the feeling 
become that in the revolution of 1898 there were forty 
friars killed and three hundred imprisoned; and the lat¬ 
ter were released only by the advance of the American 
forces and the capture of the towns in which they were 
confined.” 

There are no more devout people than the people 
of the Philippines. Religious worship obtains among 
all classes. A place of worship is an essential to the 
life of the people. In every Filipino community, 
however humble, is to be found a house of worship. 
Often in newly established districts, where the long 
journey to the superb churches built under direction 
of the padres would be impossible, the people have 
of their own accord erected less pretentious religious 
edifices, sometimes built merely of thatch and bamboo. 
Religious work is in charge of the various Catholic 


324 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


orders, there being at the present time a large number 
of native as well as Spanish priests. 

Though almost the entire population profess the 
Roman Catholic belief, yet Protestantism has made 
some advance since the American occupation. When 
the Civil Commission came into power, July 4, 1901, 
it was unlawful for any church other than the 
Roman Catholic to own any piece of real estate. One 
of the first edicts of the new legislative body, in pur¬ 
suance of the constitutional American right of freedom 
of religious worship, was the passage of a law allowing 
Protestant churches to purchase and own real property. 

No effort, it is maintained, is made to win proselytes 
from the Roman Church, which has so magnificently 
fulfilled its religious pledges in the islands. And in 
fact with so broad a field the work of both Protestant 
and Catholic denominations is extending. The mis¬ 
sionaries of the Protestant churches have rather pur¬ 
sued their efforts in other lines. It is believed by the 
missionaries that Protestantism offers advantages in 
many communities, since it maintains principles that 
are especially fitting at this time, among these being 
patriotism, discipline, industry, and freedom from su¬ 
perstition. A departure from the Catholic Church 
known as the Aglipay, and composed of those who 
have been groping for a new faith, has, to a large ex¬ 
tent, recruited the ranks of the Protestants. Among 
Protestant churches represented are Presbyterian, 
Methodist, United Brethren, Baptist, Disciples, Con¬ 
gregational, and Episcopal. A large number of church 



TYPES OF OLD SPANISH CATHEDRALS 























































































































. 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE PHILIPPINES 325 


edifices have been erected. One of these, it is inter¬ 
esting to note,— St. Mary’s and St. John’s Cathedral 
(Episcopal), Manila — is built of reinforced concrete. 
The works undertaken by the Protestant churches 
include day and night schools, hospitals, training 
schools, Bible institutes, schools for orphans, printing 
schools, manual-training schools, training farm, saw 
mill. 

Seven of the Protestant churches have joined in 
the Evangelical Union, through which, outside of 
Manila, each church confines its labors to a specified 
territory. In this manner each church has the widest 
possible field. 

There are now at work under the different Protes¬ 
tant churches in the Philippines 105 American mis¬ 
sionaries, 422 native preachers and evangelists, and 
about 30,000 members. There are 16 schools, 9 
hospitals, and about 20 dormitories, 263 church or¬ 
ganizations, 198 church buildings, and 3 publishing 
houses. The total circulation of the Scriptures has 
reached the million mark, and the workers feel that, 
for the six years since the inauguration of the enter¬ 
prise, the results have surpassed those attained in any 
other mission field. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

“Studies of the Philippine Islands” (in Spanish), by the 
Augustinian historian, Father Martinez de Zuniga. “ History 
of the Population,” by Dr. David P. Barrows, in Yol. I, Philip¬ 
pine Census. “ The Philippine Islands,” Legaspi (Spanish). 


CHAPTER XX 

PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 

Outline op Topics : Opportunities for American goods in the 
Philippines — Imports and Exports — Chances for new lines of 
American goods — American importers in the Philippines — Dif¬ 
ferences to be noted in character of goods for temperate and 
tropical Orient — Steps which the American manufacturer should 
take to sell his goods: preparation of catalogues; shipping; 
packing of goods — Customs requirements — Possibilities of a mail¬ 
order business — Opportunities to introduce Philippine products 
into this country — Bibliography. 

P RESENT developments would seem to render 
the Philippines a most inviting commercial 
field. Possibly no other Oriental country nor 
any Latin-American country presents more favorable 
opportunities for the extension of American trade and 
the investment of American capital than do these 
islands. The advantages they offer to the American 
manufacturer must be apparent to the most inexperi¬ 
enced observer. The people, under American gov¬ 
ernment and in constant association with Americans, 
are rapidly adopting our ways and customs, and 
learning to prefer our wares. There is already a 
market for many kinds of American goods; and the 
further development of the islands will demand great 
quantities of manufactures in which the United States 
excels. This is especially true of agricultural, 


PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 


827 


mining, and lumbering machinery. The American 
manufacturer finds American importers already estab¬ 
lished throughout the archipelago, and this ready mar¬ 
ket for his goods will be appreciated by every exporter 
who has sought in vain, and often at some expense, 
to secure a foreign representative in Oriental and 
South American ports. The Philippine archipelago 
is the single tropical region in which American busi¬ 
ness interests may be said to have gained a position 
approximating a substantial foothold and unthreat¬ 
ened by serious competition. To-day we are supply¬ 
ing twenty per cent of the imports of the Philippines, 
as against three per cent in Spanish times, and the 
total commerce is much greater than in Spanish days. 
(See Appendix.) 

The total commerce of the Philippines amounts to 
more than $63,000,000 a year, the imports being more 
than $30,000,000, and the exports about $33,500,000.* 
Of the imports in 1905 the Philippines took from the 
United States about $5,500,000 worth of goods; of 
the exports nearly one-half, consisting almost entirely 
of hemp, were sent to the United States. More than 
$8,000,000 worth of exports went to England, while 
several other countries each received between two and 
three million dollars’ worth. Hemp is the largest 
export, amounting to over $22,000,000 ; sugar aggre¬ 
gates $5,000,000; tobacco and copra, respectively, 
rank next. 

1 For 1905, and may be taken as about the mean average of 
recent years. 


328 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


The line of manufactured goods in which we are 
now making progress in Philippine trade includes 
iron and steel machinery of many kinds, electrical 
machinery, stationary engines, typewriters, pumps 
and pumping machinery, structural iron and steel, 
wire and wire cables, tools, agricultural implements, 
nails, pipes, fittings. The United States is practically 
the exclusive source for the supply of raw cotton, 
boots and shoes, whiskey, and, until recently, of beer. 
A very successful brewery, as already noted, has 
been lately established in Manila. Of the $10,000,000 
worth of merchandise still being supplied by Europe 
manufactured cotton goods, including some of the gay 
print stuffs the people like, amount to about $4,000,- 
000; manufactures of iron and steel, $1,500,000; 
wines, liquors, and beverages, $500,000; manufactures 
of wood, silk, and fibre, $500,000; chemicals, paper, 
glass, and earthenware, each about one-third of a 
million. 

The amount of goods we now supply the Phil¬ 
ippines is not an index of the great possibilities of the 
trade. Not only may the present demands be sup¬ 
plied to a greater degree by our manufacturers as 
they become more and more familiar with the tastes 
and needs of the people, but new lines of trade may 
be profitably cultivated. What may be done in this 
regard is shown by the success of a well-known firm 
of Ameiican importers in Manila in introducing a 
new line of high-priced vehicles. Shortly after the 
American occupation this firm sent specifications to 


PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 


829 


a vehicle-manufacturing concern in the United States 
for two-wheeled buggies to be modelled somewhat on 
the pattern of the crude two-wheeled carts then used 
for carriage purposes everywhere in the Philippines. 
Upon the arrival of the buggies, which were strictly 
in accordance with the specifications, but a great im¬ 
provement in appearance over the existing carts, 
orders were largely placed. Now there are thousands 
of these modern carret.as and carromatos in the Phil¬ 
ippines, which have sold at retail from SI50 to $850 
gold each. The Filipinos are good spenders. Few 
articles are too luxurious for the wealthy class, pro¬ 
vided they suit their tastes. 

Many lines now imported from Europe would be 
purchased from our manufacturers were they to 
familiarize themselves, through the importer, with the 
requirements of the trade. It has been a function of 
the Philippines to educate the people of America as to 
the Orient, and this education is gradually being 
extended to commercial requirements. From the 
American manufacturer’s point of view, a sharp dis¬ 
tinction must be drawn between those portions of the 
Orient that lie in the temperate zone and those that lie 
in the tropics. In the temperate zone lie Japan and 
North China, where the climate is similar to our own, 
and where the demand for fabrics and food-stuffs can 
frequently be supplied with the same class of goods 
sold in the United States. The success of American 
cottons, for instance, in North China is chiefly due to 
the fact that it has a temperate climate, and therefore 


330 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the class of heavy cottons made for our own population 
is acceptable there. South China, however, relies on 
Europe for the light cottons required in its sub¬ 
tropical climate. These cottons cannot be readily had 
in the United States. But they can be had in Europe, 
where manufacturers are willing to make goods for 
exportation in form to suit the market in which they 
are sold. The Philippines, a tropical country, would 
take a large supply of our cottons were they manu¬ 
factured for the trade there. In the Philippines are 
eight millions of people, most of whom, including men, 
wear cottons. They dress cleanly, and their demand 
is large. Years ago Dutch traders used to exchange 
cotton prints for wild products to great advantage. 
They found what the Filipinos in any particular dis¬ 
trict liked best in the way of light cottons; they sent 
a pattern back to Antwerp, and had a lot of the goods 
made up exactly to match the pattern. The Filipinos 
paid cheerfully, though they could have purchased 
cheaper cottons from the Chinese traders. 

Differences are to be noted in the manner in which 
European and American goods are put up for the 
tropics. Our condensed milks will keep in North 
China, but usually cannot endure the warmer climate 
of the Philippines; our fire-extinguishers generally 
lose their efficiency in the tropics; our candies fre¬ 
quently melt and run stickily through the cardboard 
boxes: on the other hand, the Spanish and German 
confections are put up in wooden or heavy cardboard 
boxes lined with tin; are wrapped in tissue and 




THE PHILIPPINES OF TO-DAY 

A freight boat on the upper Cagayan — Coastwise steamers and trading 
vessels in the Pasig River — One of the canals in the com¬ 
mercial section of Manila — Modern method of 
delivering goods directly from steamers 
to freight cars — The little 
port of Romblbn 

































PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 


331 


tinfoil; are of a greater consistency; and, though 
much more expensive than our confectionery, find a 
ready market. 

The difference in the class of goods demanded by 
the temperate and the tropical Orient is observed to 
great advantage by the European manufacturer. Out 
of the billion dollars’ worth of goods imported into 
the tropical East every year, European manufacturers 
now supply sixty-six per cent, as against the one per 
cent now supplied by the United States. In the 
Philippines the obstacles that at first presented them¬ 
selves to the introduction of our manufactures are 
rapidly disappearing, and in a majority of cases have 
long since been overcome. Importers are constantly 
informing our manufacturers in the United States as 
to their needs. Most of the leading dealers in the 
Philippines have established connections throughout 
the Orient, which assist in the development of our 
Far Eastern trade. 

The impressive strategical feature of the Philippines, 
from a trade viewpoint, therefore, is their position 
with reference to the tropical Orient, whose nine hun¬ 
dred millions of people are rapidly adopting the 
methods and conveniences that we call civilization. 
Their position alone should be sufficient to commend 
the country to any American manufacturer who 
desires to extend the market for his goods. This 
market is vast indeed; yet, owing to our unfamiliarity 
with its requirements, we have as yet taken an unim¬ 
portant part in its development. 


332 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


What steps, the reader may ask, should the 
American manufacturer or exporter adopt to enter 
the Philippine trade? First (assuming that you can¬ 
not afford to experiment by sending a commercial 
representative to the islands), 1 get in touch with a 
Manila importer. There are at least forty American 
importing houses in Manila, besides others which 
handle American goods. The customs officials in 
Manila, the banks, the newspapers would gladly fur¬ 
nish names of individuals or firms handling your lines. 
If you are in earnest about securing this trade, post 
yourself so far as possible as to its requirements. Re¬ 
quest the importer to offer suggestions as to the 
desired character, packing, and shipment of goods. 
If you do this the importer will assuredly be greatly 
surprised, though his constant prayers are that the 
American manufacturer will give heed to his sug¬ 
gestions. A short time ago a Manila importer told us 
that he had written at least a dozen times to a large 
canning company to put their goods up in one-pound 
and half-pound tins. “ I cannot sell their two and 
five-pound tins,” he said, “ but I could sell a great lot 
of smaller tins. The class of people who buy the 
goods want just enough for one meal. They would 
rather pay three-fourths the price for a one-pound tin 
and buy another tin to-morrow than add twenty-five 
per cent and buy a two-pound tin.” The manufac¬ 
turer kept sending pamphlets and circulars, but the 

1 Several large firms carrying similar lineti of goods have sent 
experienced representatives, with good results. 


PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 333 

importer was obliged to place the order for this class 
of goods in Europe. 

Having come into correspondence with your im¬ 
porter, the next step is the preparation of your 
catalogue. This should be written in Spanish, which 
is still to a great degree the language of the country, 1 
— or at least of the older generation,—and also in 
English, and should have code words for each item as 
far as practicable. Cablegrams from the Philippines 
to the United States cost $1.12 a word, with the ad¬ 
dress and signature at the same rate. As cables 
shorten the long months between the order and the 
delivery, many an order has been lost to the man with 
the uncoded catalogue, and given to his competitor 
who has realized its importance. The importer may 
have to spend from twenty-five to one hundred dollars 
extra in cabling an order from your uncoded cat¬ 
alogue, while similar goods can be purchased of your 
competitor, who has code words to designate his 
goods, without the extra cost in cabling. There is no 
clearer index to the ability of the manufacturer and 
the quality of his goods than his catalogue. Adver¬ 
tisers usually employ professionals to write their 
catalogues, but some of them write their own. In 
recognition of the long time required for the transit 
of letters and the expense of cablegrams, all catalogues 
should be written with painstaking care, to anticipate 
as far as possible the questions of customers. The 
firm name and business should appear clearly on 
1 After 1911 English will become the language of the courts. 


334 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


tlie cover; for the importer may carry hundreds of 
lines and represent many firms, and therefore your 
catalogue should be one of his working tools, and be 
found easily in the file. All catalogues should be 
indexed and cross-indexed. The busy importer, with 
a customer waiting for a quotation, will spend no 
time in looking through your unindexed catalogue, 
but will throw it into the waste-basket and take up 
that of your competitor. It is important that the 
catalogue give full descriptions of the goods, and space 
is better expended thus than in printing testimonials 
and lauding the goods. The best quality of paper, 
and large plain type, are desirable. 

All catalogues should give weight, both net and 
boxed. The cubic measurement of goods boxed for 
export should also be given. A ship’s ton is 2240 
pounds dead weight, or forty cubic feet, whichever 
way it will figure out the most freight; and by far 
the greater part of goods exported goes by the ton 
of forty cubic feet. Extra charge is made for pack¬ 
ages weighing over two tons. Since freight by cubic 
measurement runs from double to ten times freight 
by weight, it is essential in figuring delivery costs to 
know the cubic dimensions of the particular goods. 
The catalogue should also not only give the dimen¬ 
sions of the boxes, but should figure them out in cubic 
feet. This will save your importer from doing it in¬ 
dividually when he is figuring in a hurry for the wait¬ 
ing customer. All catalogues should, as a rule, give 
price lists and liberal discounts. The customer abroad 


PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 


835 


is always disappointed if the price quoted exceeds that 
in the catalogue, not clearly understanding that the 
expenses of forwarding, freight, duties, and many 
others, aside from the seller’s profit, must be added 
to the manufacturer’s price. 

Having properly prepared your catalogue, so that 
your importer will be as fully posted as yourself and 
will be able to contribute the same degree of enlight¬ 
enment to his customers, your next step will be to 
acquaint yourself with shipping routes and time of 
transit. The time between mailing a letter in the 
United States and receiving a reply from the Philip¬ 
pines is usually three months; but should the mail 
make ready steamer connections, the reply might be 
received in two months. The manufacturer will there¬ 
fore not complain if his correspondence should not meet 
with an immediate response. For manufacturers in the 
eastern part of the United States it is, contrary to gen¬ 
eral impression, much cheaper to ship from New York, 
via Suez Canal. Freight is usually in transit from 
fifty-five to sixty-five days. While in some instances 
two weeks’ time may be saved via the Pacific, such 
is by no means always the case. Certain classes of 
freight can be brought from the Philippines to New 
York for about the same as the rail rate between 
Omaha and Chicago. Oil steamers returning empty 
from Japan frequently carry cargoes at ballast price. 
Frequently freight can be shipped from the United 
States to Hong-Kong at a similar or less rate. An 
experienced forwarding agent should be employed, 


336 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


who will advise as to the cost of freight; and by 
ascertaining the sailing dates of vessels he will advise 
you of the quickest time that may be made. The 
importer will in most cases instruct as to the route. 
If he says via the Pacific Coast you will understand 
that he means via San Francisco or Seattle; if he says 
via New York he means across the Atlantic and via 
the Suez Canal. Not long ago a Manila merchant 
ordered a Connecticut manufacturer to ship a large 
order via New York. He shipped to New York as 
directed, thence by vessel down the coast to Galves¬ 
ton, Texas; thence by rail to San Francisco, and by 
vessel to Manila ; the freight costing about $200 
gold more than if sent via Suez. The manufacturer, 
one of the largest in his line in the United States, 
became very indignant when called upon to pay this 
$200, stating that he had shipped via New York, as 
directed by the importer in his cable. By the same 
token, he might also have shipped via New York, the 
Northwest Passage, and Behring Sea. 

American exporters should remember that the same 
postage applies between the United States and the 
Philippines as between different portions of the United 
States. Packages weighing under four pounds can 
therefore be despatched more cheaply to the Philip¬ 
pines by mail than by express. In packing goods for 
the Philippines you should remember that ships’ tackle 
is the champion u baggage-smasher.” Damaged pack¬ 
ages mean loss of money, interest, time, and perhaps 
a local merchant’s reputation, to say nothing of possible 


PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 337 

claims against the freight agents or stevedores for the 
petty thefts which are then inevitable. 

In the Philippines all imported merchandise is sub¬ 
ject to customs examination, and nearly all manufac¬ 
tured articles are dutiable. As the customs officers 
have dealings only with the importer or local mer¬ 
chant, they must hold him responsible for the way 
his goods are packed. He in return must depend on 
his exporter or shipper for the proper packing and the 
proper invoices. The requirements of the Philippine 
customs service in regard to imported merchandise are 
briefly : first, the importer must declare in writing 
the number and marks of packages or the quantity of 
the goods in bulk, and the nature of the merchandise, 
under the terms of the tariff in force in the Philip¬ 
pines ; second, he must present the invoices of the 
goods, stating forthwith their value, with all costs 
incidental to placing same packed ready for shipment 
to the Philippines. Invoices must show the value 
of the several classes of merchandise separately, in 
order that the importer may properly declare the same. 
They must be made out in the currency of the export¬ 
ing country and must show the marks and numbers 
of the packages, the gross and net weights of each 
package as defined by the tariff laws. This may seem 
complicated, but in reality it is simple. The net or 
dutiable weight of a case of perfumery, for instance, 
is the weight of the goods and all wrappings minus 
the weight of the outside case. 

American goods are continually arriving in the 
22 


333 A HANDBOOK OB THE PHILIPPINES 


Philippines improperly packed. A Manila druggist 
recently ordered six glass percolators of an American 
supply house. They arrived in due course packed in 
a wooden case without a pound of excelsior or any 
other interior protection. The importer carried them 
away in a bucket, and stated that he had contemplated 
ordering two large consignments of drugs and other 
supplies, but that he would be compelled to obtain 
them in Germany, where they would be packed, in¬ 
voiced, and billed in a business-like way. 

If the American manufacturer has observed the 
few directions here mentioned he will assuredly be 
marked out among importers, shipping men, customs 
officials, and customers as a marvel, whose business¬ 
like methods insure the proper delivery of goods. 

The American exporter should bear in mind that 
the mass of the people have a large purchasing power 
for low-priced goods, and that food-stuffs should be 
put up with regard to their preservation in the tropics. 
Each of the importer’s customers will buy only a lim¬ 
ited quantity of goods at any one time; small packages 
are therefore in demand. On the other hand, importers 
of goods from the Philippines may generally purchase 
only a limited quantity of many kinds of manufactured 
goods at a time, though large consignments can be 
gathered and shipped for you by an agent if you have 
provided him with the necessary cash credit. For 
instance, an importer in the United States had ordered 
a large consignment of Manila hats, an article resem¬ 
bling the Panama hat, and bringing as high prices in 


PHILIPPINE COMMENCE 


339 


this country. Not receiving the hats, he caused in¬ 
quiry to be made from a dealer in the district where 
they are manufactured as to why they had not been 
shipped. The dealer replied that the hundreds of 
people who weave these hats in their homes were 
unable to wait through the long period between the 
time the goods could be shipped to America and re¬ 
mittances made, and that in order to secure these 
goods it would be necessary to have an agent in Manila 
make part payment as the hats were shipped. 

The Filipinos will, however, frequently pay high 
prices for what are to them luxuries. In this class of 
goods are American-made shoes. A poor Filipino who 
has risen in wealth above his fellows is known as a 
“ shoe hombre,” that is, a man who wears shoes. Pa¬ 
tent leathers are largely in demand. Again, while 
the writer w T as in the provinces of the Philippines at 
least forty farmers asked him where they could secure 
windmills. Some of them have since purchased wind¬ 
mills at a round figure. 

The possibilities of a mail-order business may have 
been suggested to some readers. It is appropriate 
to observe here that it would not now be profitable 
to circularize the islands generally. Selected lists in 
some lines might, however, bring good results; but 
in order to carry on such an undertaking successfully 
the American manufacturer should have in Manila a 
responsible agent who is thoroughly familiar with the 
situation throughout the archipelago. 

Despite the nearer Oriental markets and the long 


840 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


established demand for certain classes of Philippine 
products in European countries, there would seem to 
be excellent opportunities to introduce various pro¬ 
ducts of the archipelago into the United States. Such 
importations, of course, should be handled for the pur¬ 
chaser by an agent in Manila. Among articles that 
meet with favor are the exquisite Manila hats, mats, 
and cloths; hardwoods, pearls, shells, etc. 

From a sociological point of view, large trade be¬ 
tween the United States and the Philippines is a 
consummation much to be desired. As Foreman, the 
historian, points out, through trade the two races will 
more readily and thoroughly arrive at mutual com¬ 
prehension and sympathy. There are no obstacles to 
the continuous development of a great commerce. The 
American importer is glad to handle the wares of the 
American manufacturer, and also to assist in the ex¬ 
portation of Philippine products. The ten million 
dollars’ worth of European imports yearly to the 
Philippines is not only a prize meriting considera¬ 
tion, but having once entered the Philippine trade, 
we have secured a wedge into the tropical Orient. 

The entrance of capital into the Philippines has a 
direct relation to their purchasing power. The great 
need of the islands to-day is capital, and there its op¬ 
portunities are seemingly unsurpassed. Production 
in the islands is limited only by the working capital; 
and American concerns intelligently managed will not 
only profit themselves, but will help the country in 
educating the people as a whole to better methods. 



CHAKACTEKISTIC SCENES IN THE PHILIPPINES 

Madcon drive, Manila, showing the bay and the walled city — 
Pagsaugan gorge, near Manila —Cliffs along the 
seacoast islets — The beginning of 
a hemp plantation 























) 








PHILIPPINE COMMERCE 


841 


With the certain and rapid development of the people 
there will come an increased demand for American 
shoes, American hats, shirts, condensed milk (if prop¬ 
erly prepared), other food-stuffs, windmills, ploughs, 
harrows, rakes, spades, power-plants, agricultural im¬ 
plements of all sorts, watches, jewelry, finery, buggies, 
wagons, and other articles which are now or can be 
manufactured, that would help to raise the standard 
of living. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Consular reports on Oriental trade bear in some degree on 
Oriental trade conditions mentioned above. Apply, Department 
of Commerce and Labor, Washington, D. C. For information 
regarding the shipping of goods, apply to any trans-continental 
railway company. Information regarding customs regulations 
may be obtained of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, Washington, 
D. C., or of any customs official of the United States, since 
Philippine tariffs correspond to those of the United States, 
though there is a reduction of twenty-five per cent of the Dingley 
tariff. 


CHAPTER XXI 

THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 


Outline of Topics : Increased freedom of the Filipino workman 
under the American occupation — His abilities disclosed by condi¬ 
tions of civilization — Building of Manila electric railway system 
— Filipinos as conductors and motormen — Dependence of progress 
on the welfare of the people — Their demand for fair treatment 
in return for faithful work — Educating the people in industrial 
methods — Peonage in early times — Cash wages — Necessity for 
supervision at first— Readiness of the Filipino people to lay hold 
of Occidental civilization — Bibliography. 


the right to live implies the right to work, 



whether an individual or a nation he under 


discussion, it is pertinent to inquire here 


what are the average capabilities of the people of the 
Philippines to perform satisfactory labor under modem 
conditions of civilization. 

Half a decade ago it would have been impossible to 
attempt an answer to this question. Save in the 
vicinity of the larger cities the faintest approach to 
Western civilization did not exist, and even then the 
channels through which the people were permitted to 
cultivate their abilities were so extremely limited that 
it would have been impracticable to form any conclu¬ 
sions as to their limitations. For centuries the ma¬ 
jority of the population have been so circumscribed 


THE FILIPINO AS A WOF.KER 513 

with primitive conditions and crude working appli¬ 
ances, that they seemed unfitted for more than a 
mechanical performance of duties. 

During the last few years, however, many of the 
people have been afforded the opportunity to discard 
the garments they have worn from time immemorial 
and to assume the newer habiliments of civilization. 
In most instances the clothes lit, and they fit well. 
Instead of being able to fill only such positions as 
cocheros (drivers), body servants, scribientes (clerks), 
musicians, wood-carvers, and other occupations re¬ 
quiring little initiative or judgment, it is disclosed 
that the Filipinos become, in time, capable of perform¬ 
ing every task that has been seriously set before them. 
We have Filipino locomotive engineers and conduc¬ 
tors, who perform their duties most creditably with¬ 
out the superintendence of white men; Filipino 
motormen and street-car conductors, Filipino brewers, 
typesetters, metal-casters, pilots, marine engineers, 
blacksmiths, lumber-mill employees, such as sawyers, 
loggers, and a host of others whose tasks require not 
only constant application but a degree of initiative 
and judgment. 

The apparent inattention of the Filipino to the task 
in hand has often been commented upon by visitors 
to the archipelago. He has appeared, it has been 
asserted, to lack both the power of concentration and 
the faculty for continued effort. He has seemed vig¬ 
orous neither in mind nor body, and his thoughts 
have seemed to turn inconsequentially from one 


344 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


subject to another. These assertions are, it must be 
acknowledged, largely true of the native worker 
while he is yet untrained. From the character of his 
surroundings, the exuberance of natural products, 
and the habits resulting from his primitive way of 
living, his time has been taken up with “ odd jobs,” 
and the necessity of continued effort along a single 
line has never presented itself. In fact, he does not 
comprehend the imperative need of continued energy 
when first he is employed as a regular workman. But 
he soon learns. In this connection the experience of 
a large contracting firm which built the electric rail¬ 
way systems in Manila may be related. When the 
construction company began operations they employed 
about 500 men. On the first Monday the 500 men all 
appeared ready for work; on Tuesday only 150 turned 
up; on Wednesday there were about 800. So it 
fluctuated. The superintendent made inquiry. The 
new workers were like children: “ Oh, senor, what 
does it matter to you, senor, whether we do this 
work to-day or to-morrow or Saturday? We ask 
wages only for the work we do.” The superintend¬ 
ent replied that it was necessary that the work be 
done during the specified periods, and that he would 
discharge any man who failed to report for work for 
two consecutive days unless for some unusual cause. 
The men, after that, reported promptly for duty. 
Very soon afterward it was discovered that in the 
afternoon they became weak and listless. It was 
found that they ate no lunch at the noon hour, except 


THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 


345 


perhaps a few bananas, but merely slept in the shade. 
The superintendent then arranged to give each of the 
workers a peseta (ten cents American money) at noon 
time. He also took care that at noon each day there 
should be on hand a food-vender to sell the workers, 
at reasonable cost, a few simple, nutritious foods of 
the kind to which they were accustomed. Thereafter 
the men worked efficiently all day. After several 
weeks, however, it was found that many were desert¬ 
ing to go home to their families ; for, as has elsewhere 
been observed, the Filipino is devoted to his home. 
It was decided to remove this cause of trouble. The 
families were located in homes built for them close to 
the spot where the labor was performed. Now this 
colony plan is adopted by many of the large com¬ 
panies, which provide, beside the homes, churches, 
school-houses, a cockpit, a dance hall, a band for the 
workers, stores, and so on. The labor is now found to 
be dependable, and, though less efficient, it compares 
favorably, for the price paid, with labor in the United 
States. The company which built the Manila street 
railways, having undertaken similar ventures in the 
United States, accounts the average efficiency of 
the Filipino laborer as eighty per cent of that of 
the American. 

A greater degree of skill, however, is involved in 
the running of the electric street-cars in Manila than 
that necessary in the workers who laid the track. No 
clearer evidence could be given of the abilities of the 
people than a recital of the present working of the 


346 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Manila street railway. This plant, comprising about 
fifty miles of street railroads on which one hundred 
cars are running, is operated entirely by Filipino 
motormen and conductors. The success of the road 
is largely due to the rank and file of the operatives. 
It must be remembered that to operate with safety a 
modern electric car in the crowded streets of an Ori¬ 
ental city, where the road traffic and the pedestrians 
are absolutely at variance, the people being unaccus¬ 
tomed to such swiftness of transit, calls for steadiness 
and resourcefulness in the driver. The Filipino mo¬ 
tormen have demonstrated that they possess these 
very qualities, though cursory investigators have de¬ 
clared them to be lacking. 

To appreciate this demand for steadiness, one must 
have had experience in trying to progress through the 
streets of a typical Eastern metropolis. Pedestrians 
use the roadway very often in common with vehicles, 
and may generally be persuaded to make way only 
when their lives are actually in danger. A narrow 
escape from death is uniformly treated as a good joke, 
not only by the observers, but by the principal as 
well. Under these circumstances, the almost com¬ 
plete freedom from serious accident in the operation 
of the line is undoubtedly noteworthy. The con¬ 
ductors, too, uniformly show ability to live up to the 
requirements of their work; they are, moreover, 
honest. 

It may be here observed that before the installation 
of the Manila street railway system grave doubts were 



EXECUTIVE OFFICES AND MUNICIPAL COUNCIL AT 
SANTA CRUZ, MARINDUQUE 






























THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 


347 


expressed, even by those who had had years of ex¬ 
perience in dealing with native labor, as to whether 
or not the cars could be run at all with Filipino 
operators. And if, it was stated, it should prove 
possible to conduct the system with native employees, 
the patronage would not be sufficient to render the 
venture profitable. Yet the cars are always crowded; 
the service is excellent and abundant. 

That the political and economical progress of the 
Philippines is dependent upon the welfare of the 
people is self-evident. Further, that welfare is 
largely dependent upon the intelligence and guidance 
of the foreigner. Wherever in these islands the 
foreign pioneer has located himself, he is teaching his 
native neighbor better industrial methods, and at the 
same time he is benefiting himself by taking advan¬ 
tage of the resources of one of the most fertile 
countries in the world. 

Perhaps the most striking example that could be 
given of the success that may come to the Anglo- 
Saxon that makes good workmen of the native popu¬ 
lation and improves their condition as well as his 
own, is to be found in the marvellous experience 
of Mr. John Orr, of Dalupaon, a town founded by 
him in Southern Luzon. Mr. Orr went to the Phil¬ 
ippines fourteen years ago and engaged in lumbering 
the inexhaustible mahoganies, ebonies, and construc¬ 
tion woods. When he settled at Dalupaon, eight 
years ago, the people of that vicinity, who were a 
wild tribe of the great Bicol Filipinos, lived in the 


348 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


trees and subsisted on roots, fish that were cast up by 
the sea, and the precarious fruits of the chase. Mr. 
Orr taught these people how to work, and he paid 
them for their work. They became efficient laborers, 
and to-day his foremen and skilled foresters require 
no supervision. At the present time there are in the 
vicinity about three hundred families who live in 
good houses of native construction, wear good clothes, 
go to church, and send their children to the schools 
provided by Mr. Orr. That the most of the Filipino 
people do best under a paternal administration is at¬ 
tested by the immunity from various disasters which 
has attended Mr. Orr’s workers. When, about half 
a decade ago, the cholera broke out in Ambos Cam- 
arines Province and destroyed about eighteen per 
cent of the population, Mr. Orr quarantined his little 
community by placing an armed sentry at each trail 
leading from the forest. Not a person was taken 
with cholera. When the insurrection broke out, Mr. 
Orr’s men remained at work. When grim famine 
followed the insurrection, and tens of thousands 
perished for food or succumbed to disease, and when 
our Government was expending millions of dollars in 
the importation of rice to relieve the famine-stricken 
districts, Mr. Orr had abundant food for his em¬ 
ployees. And so through war, famine, and pestilence, 
this pioneer kept his own people busy and happy, and 
was at the same time carrying on a profitable venture. 
Some of his workers have never left the cuttings, 
and only three of them have ever left him to seek 


THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 349 

employment elsewhere. None have ever expressed 
genuine dissatisfaction. 

The increased physical and mental ability which 
comes to people leading an orderly life and having 
abundant nutritious food is emphasized by the fol¬ 
lowing incident: On one occasion six of Mr. Orr’s 
men, between the ages of seventeen and twenty-eight, 
rowed us in a heavy lifeboat along the coast of 
Southern Luzon for four days without a stop. The 
first day thirty-eight miles was accomplished; the 
next day, with a rough sea, seventeen miles; the next 
day twenty-three miles, and the last day twenty-six 
miles. The heaviest of these young men did not 
-weigh as much as one hundred and thirty pounds. 
They ate three hearty meals a day of rice and fish, 
and at night when the lifeboat had been pulled up on 
the beach, and turned over, they slept like logs 
under its shelter. At the end of the trip they seemed 
as fresh as at the beginning. Mr. Orr, who trained 
them to row, says he would match them, for en¬ 
durance, against any crew in the Orient. They have 
defeated Japanese, Spanish, and American crews from 
sailing vessels. 

The labor problems affecting pioneers who have 
established themselves in the remoter parts of the 
archipelago have been satisfactorily solved by the 
readiness with which the wild people have been 
converted into industrious workers. The following 
is a case in point: 

Mr. Frank C. Cook, president of the Davao Planters’ 


850 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Association, owns a plantation on the Balutaca River, 
forty-five miles south of Davao, Mindanao Island. 
When first he went to the region, in the early 
nineties, Mr. Cook came upon a lovely valley in the 
midst of a jungle. The scattered tribes living about 
— pagan Bogobos and others — were wild, timid, and 
quarrelsome. Mr. Cook at first found it difficult 
to get into communication with them, but by living 
there alone he won their confidence. Under his 
direction a village street was laid out, trees were 
planted, and houses built. The wild Malay showed 
a willingness to work, and sought food, clothing, and 
merchandise. At the end of two years Mr. Cook had 
a village of about two thousand people upon his 
plantation; to-day he can put a hundred extra men 
to work in the fields at any time. The people are 
simple-minded and industrious ; they have never mo¬ 
lested any white man, nor committed any violent 
crimes among themselves. 

The advent into agricultural life, of a large number 
of young men who have completed service in the 
employ of the civil government, or served their en¬ 
listment in the army, has proved an educational 
factor of no little importance to the people. In 
Mindanao thousands of the mountain people now 
live in good houses, eat good food, and are adopting 
civilized dress. They are laying aside their spears 
and krises, engaging in agriculture, and sending their 
children to school. 

The successful employment of Filipino workers 


THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 


351 


involves an understanding of native character. The 
prime requisite of success lies in treating the people 
justly; or, to use President Roosevelt’s phrase, “ giv¬ 
ing them a square deal.” The native has an inherited 
dislike of injustice. He is intolerant of anything 
that suggests favoritism or wire-pulling. He resents 
harsh treatment, and he demands an equivalent for 
his work. In passing, it may be remarked that the 
defection of labor in Spanish times was often caused 
by the fact that the workers were not paid in cash, 
but in a depreciated script, or in merchandise of 
various sorts. Natives who receive regular cash 
wages seldom desert; they steadily improve in effi¬ 
ciency, and soon learn to take pride in their work. 

The Filipino has often been charged with unfaithful¬ 
ness to his employer; but he works faithfully when 
treated fairly. During Christmas week in 1905, one of 
the larger lumber mills of Manila received some urgent 
orders, to complete which it was necessary to work 
night and day. The superintendent guaranteed time 
and one-half for work on Christmas Day and Sundays, 
and double time for night work. The American fore¬ 
men all refused to work, but the Filipino workmen 
were all on hand and worked under the direction of 
the manager and president of the company. And it 
must be borne in mind that Christmas and holidays 
are more observed among the Filipinos than among 
Americans. The former learn better to work through 
observance, or practical application to the task, than 
through theoretical teaching. It is what they see 


352 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


another do that they wish to do. Upon this point 
General Leonard Wood wrote us: 

“ There are certainly few, if any, problems which will 
not entirely disappear once development of the islands 
is well under way and the people are at work. The 
question in the Philippines is not so much one of politi¬ 
cal administration as of agricultural development. The 
people are peaceable, quiet, and easy-going, and with an 
opportunity to labor and a fair market for their products, 
most of the so-called problems which are, in my opinion, 
largely due to lack of occupation, will disappear. Noth¬ 
ing will do more to this end than free trade with the 
United States. I think that the greatest benefit that we 
could confer on the Filipino people throughout the 
length and breadth of the archipelago would be to scatter 
all through the islands a number of immigrant farmers 
of a desirable class. It is not necessary to bring a great 
number of immigrants of this class, but just enough to 
stimulate the varied industries of the islands. I believe 
that the effect of this class of immigrant farmers would 
be most beneficial upon the people. They are quite will¬ 
ing to learn, but have no examples before them of modern 
methods or modern appliances. The object lesson pre¬ 
sented by an up-to-date, successful agricultural establish¬ 
ment would be an eye-opener to the people for miles in 
every direction. This kind of education is much needed. 
We desire good, intelligent settlers to come here and aid 
to develop the country. If the Moro, for instance, saw 
an American planter with American machinery, and saw 
the way that the wife and the children of the American 
planter lived, he would quickly want many of the same 
comforts possessed by the white man. He would see 
that the machinery helped the other fellow, and he would 
get it 5 he would see the comforts enjoyed by his white 



SENOR RICARDO AGUADO 
Secretary of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce 






THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 


353 


neighbors, and his family would demand that he get the 
wherewithal to furnish them with a fair measure of the 
same. They would not be contented with the conditions 
they have heretofore known.” 

It is not out of place to observe here that the 
present industrial development will bring about the 
condition desired by General Wood. It is already 
bringing it about. 

Most observers appreciate the need of an industrial 
education for the people. The schools will stimulate 
development through providing a common language, 
but our school system has been criticised for not put¬ 
ting a premium on expert manual labor. The demand 
for expert native machinists is far from being satis¬ 
fied, it is said, while clerical positions are overcrowded. 
The following from Dr. David P. Barrows would 
seem to indicate that the Government had long ago 
anticipated this criticism: 

“ The great demand upon educators of to-day is that 
their instruction shall be practical, and by this is usually 
meant that whatever a boy learns in school should apply 
immediately and directly upon his future vocation. The 
voice of those demanding that Filipino education shall 
first and foremost aim to raise the industrial efficiency 
and material welfare of the people, is often heard, and 
the counsel is far too important to go unheeded. As a 
matter of fact, this has been and is one of the constantly 
sought objects in framing a system of instruction for 
Filipino schools. The principal means of livelihood in 
these islands is agriculture, and the second is fishing. 
It is probable that the actual number of Filipinos at 
skilled trades does not need to be greatly increased, but 
23 


S54 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


those who direct those trades need to be more skilled 
and more intelligent than they are at present. The 
chief objection to their work seems to be that the artisan 
can only make well with his hands objects which he re¬ 
peatedly made before, or for which he has been furnished 
the necessary pattern. These are the precise limitations 
which the instruction in the trades inaugurated by the 
Bureau of Education aims to overcome. If the future 
artisan of the Philippines, trained in the public schools, 
is to be intelligent, is to possess initiative, is to be able 
to work at original plans and to construct from designs, 
he must have as a basis the rudiments of an education. 
With this estimate in mind, trade work is hot attempted 
in the primary schools, but is put into the intermediate 
class which constitutes the fourth, fifth, and sixth years 
of instruction for a boy. Wood-working shops with 
machinery have been installed in Manila and Pasig; the 
same has been ordered for Ilicos Sur, Sorsogon, Iloilo, 
and by the Moro provinces for Zamboanga. Iron¬ 
working machines have been installed in Manila and 
ordered for Iloilo and Zamboanga; wood-working tools 
and instructions in carpentry have been furnished to 
twenty-four different provinces, and drawing implements 
for mechanical drawing to eleven provinces, with sets 
ordered for four additional provinces. Iron-working tools 
for instruction in blacksmithing have been furnished to 
seven provinces, besides a blacksmithing department in 
the trade school at Manila. Trade school buildings for 
the installation of these tools and machines have been 
completed, or are under construction, or contracted for, 
in eight provinces. 

“ This is not a bad showing when we remember that 
two years ago practically no tool work was being taught 
except in the trade school at Manila. But the best 
feature of the inauguration of this instruction is the 


THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 355 

enthusiasm and interest which it commands from the 
Filipinos themselves.” 

Peonage in Spanish times was often carried on to 
extremes in some of the more remote localities. Fre¬ 
quently it involved absolute slavery. Even to-day 
instances of both slavery and peonage may be come 
upon. Not long since a case came up in a provincial 
court, of a native who had worked for forty years 
without recompense, as a household servant for one 
of his own people. A scanty living and his clothing 
— of the barest sort — were the fruits of his four 
decades of practical slavery, beginning, it was said, 
when his parents first bound him out for debt. In 
such cases it is often extremely difficult to obtain 
testimony. When, in this instance, the servant was 
protected from the threats that had been made by his 
master in case he should reveal his condition of servi¬ 
tude, he talked freely; and people of his neighbor¬ 
hood, being given to understand that no harm could 
come to them through their action as witnesses in the 
courts, flocked to the trial and gave their testimony. 
The influence of court cases such as this is profound 
and lasting; it is not only a deterrent to future crimes 
of this sort, but serves to bring home to the people the 
liberty of person guaranteed by American government. 

It must not be inferred that the Spanish were re¬ 
sponsible for the existence of peonage. The practice 
has existed in all countries in the period of their dark 
ages, and the Orient with its established lines of caste 
is particularly disposed to the custom. Among the 


556 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Christians it has practically been obliterated, and even 
among the Moros, where the dattos in remote regions 
exact great tribute from the people, service for debt 
is dying out. Felons convicted of wilfully compelling 
bodily servitude are now serving terms at the insular 
prison at Bilibid. 

The employment of labor on a large scale in the 
Philippines presents some advantages not enjoyed in 
the United States. With just treatment, the workers 
and their families almost invariably become deeply 
attached to the plantation or colony on which they 
may be established. They can scarcely be induced to 
leave its boundaries, certainly not for extended periods. 
Strikes among such workers are unknown. Although 
requiring constant supervision at first, their adapta¬ 
bility soon brings them beyond this necessity. For 
certain kinds of field and indoor work their deftness 
with their hands at once renders them equal to the 
manual workers of any land. Thus in the manufac¬ 
ture of cigars and cigarettes, in the picking of weeds 
or plucking of bugs from plants, they are unsurpassed. 
In the Cagayan Valley of Luzon the wife and children 
of the native planter perform the lighter work in the 
tobacco fields. Wages for field labor are relatively 
slight: from ten to fifty cents American money a day, 
according to the distance from Manila, and from ten 
to forty or fifty pesos (a peso is fifty cents) would 
seem to be an average monthly wage. The following 
may be taken as an approximate estimate for various 
employments throughout the islands: — 


THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 


857 


Farm hands earn about twenty cents a day on the 
average. The same class, employed on public works 
as unskilled laborers, are paid from thirty to forty 
cents. Rockmen and other semi-skilled workmen 
receive forty to fifty cents. Of really skilled arti¬ 
sans, the carpenters are the commonest, and they re¬ 
ceive from sixty cents to one dollar and fifty cents. 
Blacksmiths are paid from one to two dollars; boiler¬ 
makers make two dollars or more, and machinists from 
one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars and fifty cents. 
Steam engine drivers and plant operatives are paid from 
thirty to seventy-five dollars per month. 

Native laborers soon make excellent plantation em¬ 
ployees. Their natural liking for mechanical contri¬ 
vances helps them to understand the care and operation 
of agricultural machinery. They readily handle steam 
ploughs and all manner of modern implements. There 
has not been a dearth of this labor on the Government 
farms or among the large planters. 

The capacity of the workers rapidly increases. Those 
who would criticise the untrained native laborer should 
not lose sight of the fact that the work he performs 
under the tropical sun would wear out an Anglo-Saxon 
within the course of a few years. Physical work dur¬ 
ing the midday hours in the hot season is extremely 
trying. Though they have for centuries been accus¬ 
tomed to “ lay off ” during the noon hours, laborers 
employed in recent construction keep the stipulated 
hours. Often native farmers may be seen in their rice 
fields during the hottest hours of the day. 


358 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Colony workers, too, have many advantages over 
those who are their own masters. The erection of a 
colony settlement on sanitary lines, the establishment 
of neat and attractive homes, and the association with 
an improved manner of living, creates in them habits 
of thrift, and new desires. A number of the large com¬ 
panies have established stores at which, if the workers 
desire, they may purchase not only the necessaries of 
life, but a considerable variety of luxuries. In one 
instance where sewing-machines were kept, almost 
every housewife purchased one. Purchase at these 
stores is never mandatory, and it would be a dubious 
experiment to attempt to make it so. 

The most industrious laborers are undoubtedly 
found among the Ilocanos, a people who inhabit 
the shore slopes of the west of Northern Luzon. 
Centuries of living in the least fertile portion of 
the archipelago have produced a thrifty and indus¬ 
trious race. They are the Yankees of the Philippines, 
and by virtue of their industry the population has 
increased to such an extent that they have migrated 
throughout the islands. It is no unusual sight to 
see hundreds of them removing with their families 
to other districts; many colonies of them have been 
introduced into the fertile Cagayan Valley to the east, 
across the Caraballo Mountains, where the people, by 
living in a naturally rich land, are much less indus¬ 
trious. They work for a peseta (ten cents) to a half¬ 
peso a day (twenty-five cents), and soon by their 
industry accumulate a competence. In some regions, 


THE FILIPINO AS A WORKER 


359 


as in the hemp districts, owing to the unexampled 
prosperity of the industry, the demand for labor has 
increased to such an extent that it is difficult to sat¬ 
isfy it. Great numbers of laborers were first imported 
from other regions of the islands, but it was found 
that only when their families were brought with them 
would they become satisfactory workers. As elsewhere 
indicated, positions such as clerks, drivers, and servants, 
are overcrowded. 

By a careful investigation of the results attained 
by native labor in Manila foundries with those of 
Japanese labor in the Osaka Iron Works, the largest 
in Japan,—statistics and observations being furnished 
by managers in both cases, — we are impressed with 
the fact that the efficiency of the trained Filipino 
mechanic and that of the Japanese mechanic do not 
greatly vary. In these institutions neither is so strong 
or so efficient as the expert American workman. A 
Japanese workman in the Philippines does not gen¬ 
erally endure the climate to the extent that native 
laborers do. 

Perhaps no more complete change of industrial life 
has ever taken place among a people than is now be¬ 
ginning in the Philippines. The old system is being 
rapidly overturned; but so capable are the people to 
grasp the Western civilization that there would seem 
to be no formidable obstacles to their great material 
prosperity. 









N 


APPENDIX 





TREATY OF PEACE 


Being the so-called Treaty of Paris concluded between 
the United States and Spain, signed in Paris on the 
tenth of December, 1898, and ratified in Washington on 
the tenth of February, 1899. The original documents 
are drawn up in Spanish and in English. 

Translation of Spanish Text. 

Article 1. — Spain renounces all sovereign rights and do¬ 
minion over Cuba. Considering that when Spain shall evacuate 
the said Island it will be occupied by the United States, the 
United States undertake, so long as they shall remain in occu¬ 
pation, to fulfil those duties which international law imposes 
for the protection of lives and property. 

Article 2. — Spain cedes to the United States the Island of 
Porto Rico, all others under her sovereignty in the West Indies, 
and the Island of Guam in the Marianas or Padrone Archipelago. 

Article 3. — Spain cedes to the United States the Archi¬ 
pelago known by the name of the Philippine Islands, which 
comprises all those islands situated between the lines beginning 
and ending as follows, viz. : — A line drawn from W. to E. near 
the 22nd parallel of N. latitude, crossing the centre of the nav¬ 
igable Channel of Bashee, from the 118th to the 127th degree of 
longitude E. of Greenwich ; another from the 127th degree of 
longitude W. of Greenwich to the parallel of 4° 45' N. latitude ; 
another follows in the parallel of 4° 25' up to its intersection 
■with the meridian of longitude 119° 35' E. of Greenwich. From 
this last point starts another parallel of latitude 7° and 40', and 
follows up to the intersection with the 116th degree of longitude 
E. of Greenwich; another line is drawn up to the intersection 
of the 10th parallel of N. latitude, with the 118th degree of 
longitude E. of Greenwich ; the zone comprised in this cession 
is closed by the line which runs from the said 118th degree up 
to the first line of those named in this clause. 


864 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


The United States will pay to Spain the sum of $20,000,000 
within three months after the ratified Treaty is exchanged. 

Article 4. — For the period of ten years, counting from the 
exchange of ratifications of this Treaty, the United States will 
admit Spanish ships and merchandise into the Philippine ports, 
with the same condition as the ships and merchandise of the 
United States. 

Article 5. — As soon as the present Treaty shall be signed 
the United States will begin to transport to Spain, at their ex¬ 
pense, the Spanish soldiers which have fallen prisoners of war 
to the American forces on the taking of Manila; these soldiers 
shall have their arms returned to them. 

As soon as the ratifications of this Treaty shall have been 
exchanged, Spain shall proceed to evacuate the Philippine 
Islands as well as that of Guam, on the same conditions agreed 
to by the Commissioners for the evacuation of Porto Rico and 
the other Antilles, and in conformity with the Protocol of the 
12th of August, which remains in force until its stipulations 
shall have been complied with. 

The respective Governments shall fix the period within which 
the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and that of Guam shall 
be effected. 

The flags and standards, the ships of war not captured in 
battle, the small arms, cannons of all sizes, with their carriages 
and fittings, gunpowder, ammunition, provisions, material, and 
effects of all kinds in possession of the Spanish sea and land 
forces in the Philippines and Guam will remain Spanish prop¬ 
erty. The cannons of large calibre which are not field pieces, and 
are mounted on the fortifications in the interior or on the coasts, 
shall remain in their present positions during six months after 
the ratification of the Treaty, and shall be purchased during that 
period by the United States if the contracting Governments can 
arrive at a satisfactory and voluntary agreement thereon. 

Article 6. — As soon as the present treaty shall be signed. 
Spain shall liberate all prisoners of war and all persons arrested 
and detained for political reasons connected with the Cuban and 
Philippine insurrections and the war with the United States. 
Reciprocally the United States shall liberate all prisoners of 
war taken by the American forces, and shall negotiate the 


APPENDIX 


365 


liberty of all the Spanish prisoners which may be held by the 
insurgents of Cuba and the Philippines. The United States 
Government shall transport, at its own expense, to Spain, and 
the Spanish Government shall transport, at its own expense, to 
the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and Philippines, as the 
case may be, all those prisoners and arrested persons whom they 
have respectively undertaken to liberate in virtue of this article. 

Article 7. — Spain and the United States of America mutu¬ 
ally renounce, by the present treaty, all national or individual 
claims for compensation of any kind which might be brought 
against the other, or which might be brought by their subjects 
or citizens against the other government, on account of anything 
which may have taken place from the beginning of the last 
Cuban insurrection up to the moment of the ratification of 
the present treaty. They also renounce all right to indemnity 
for expenses incurred during the war. The United States shall 
judge and decide the claims of American citizens against Spain. 

Article 8. — In fulfilment of the first three articles Spain 
abandons in Cuba and cedes in Porto Rico, in all the other West 
Indian Islands, in the Island of Guam, and in the Philippine 
Archipelago, all the buildings, fortresses, barracks, establish¬ 
ments, public roads, and, in short, all those things which, by 
custom or right, constitute public property and appertain to the 
sovereignty of the Spanish crown. Although quite unnecessary 
to do so, it is hereby declared that the abandonment and ces¬ 
sion stipulated shall in no way affect the property and rights 
accorded by custom or law to the peaceful holders of goods of 
any sort in the provinces, cities, public or private establishments, 
civil or ecclesiastical corporations, or any other collectivity which 
has any legal right to acquire goods or rights in the ceded or 
abandoned territories, and the same applies to the rights and 
properties of individuals of every nationality whatsoever. 

The abandonment or cession referred to comprises the delivery 
of all documents relating exclusively to the said renounced or 
ceded sovereignties, and which documents may have been de¬ 
posited in the archives in the Peninsula. When the documents 
existing in the archives of the Peninsula refer only in part to 
the said sovereignty, it will suffice for Spain to remit a copy of 
the matter affecting the said sovereignty. 


366 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Reciprocally, Spain has the same right with respect to docu¬ 
ments existing in the archives of the said Islands. 

In the said abandonment and cession are comprised the 
rights of the Spanish crown and its authority over the archives 
and official register, administrative as well as judicial, which 
relate to rights and properties of the inhabitants of the said 
Islands. 

The archives in registers shall be carefully kept, and the 
interested parties, without any exception, shall obtain, in legal 
form, authorized copies of the contracts, wills, and whatever 
other documents form part of the notarial archives, whether 
these official documents be in Spain or whether they be in the 
said Islands. 

Article 9. — Spanish subjects born in the Peninsula, and 
resident in the territories, the sovereignty of which Spain aban¬ 
dons or cedes, may remain in or go away from those territories 
and still hold, in either case, their property rights, as well as 
the right to sell or dispose of the real estate or its produce. 
They shall also have the right to follow their trades or profes¬ 
sions subject to the laws affecting all other foreigners. If they 
wish to remain in these territories and preserve their Spanish 
nationality, they will have to inscribe their names in the official 
register declaring their intention to remain Spaniards, and this 
must be done within the first year following the ratification of 
this treaty ; those who fail to so declare themselves will be con¬ 
sidered as naturalized in the territory in which they reside. 

The United States Congress will decide, in due course, all 
that concerns the civil rights and political status of the natives 
who inhabit the ceded territories. 

Article 10. — Religious tolerance is guaranteed to the in¬ 
habitants of the territories abandoned and ceded by Spain. 

Article 11. — The Spaniards resident in the territories 
named in this treaty shall be subject to the civil and criminal 
courts of the country in which they live, and in conformity with 
the law therein established, they shall be liable to be cited be¬ 
fore these Courts in the same manner and under the same pro¬ 
cedure established for the citizens of the country they live in. 

Article 12. — Judicial proceedings now pending shall be 
continued on the following conditions : — 


APPENDIX 


367 


•(1) Sentences already given, against which there would be 
no right of appeal under Spanish law, shall be executed by the 
competent authorities of the territory. 

(2) Civil suits shall continue to take their course before the 
same Courts, or before those which may be established in their 
stead. 

(3) Criminal cases pending before the Supreme Court in 
Spain, against citizens resident in the ceded or abandoned terri¬ 
tory, shall continue under the jurisdiction of the Spanish 
Supreme Court, but the execution of the sentence given shall be 
confided to the authority of the territory. 

Article 13. — Literary, artistic, and industrial copyrights 
acquired by Spaniards in the territories mentioned herein, shall 
be respected up to the ratification of the treaty. Spanish 
literary, scientific, and artistic works, which are not a menace to 
public order, may enter free of all duties and taxes for the 
period of ten years counting from the exchange of ratifications 
of this Treaty. 

Article 14. — Spain can establish Consular Agencies in the 
territories herein named. 

Article 15. — The Governments of the two countries shall 
reciprocally concede to merchant ships identical treatment with 
regard to port dues, storage, tonnage, etc., as that accorded to 
their own merchant ships which are not engaged in coasting 
trade. This article can be rescinded on either side on six 
months’ notice of same being given by the one party to the other. 

Article 16. — It is hereby understood that the obligations 
accepted by the United States with regard to Cuba shall only be 
in force during the occupation of that island, although the 
United States undertakes to advise the Government which may 
hereafter be established there to take up the same obligations. 

Article 17. — This Treaty shall be ratified by Her Majesty 
the Queen Regent of Spain and by the President of the United 
States with the consent and approbation of the Senate. The 
ratifications shall be exchanged in Washington within six 
months from this date, or before if possible. 

In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries sign and 
seal this Treaty. 

Done in duplicate in Paris on the 10th day of December, 1898. 


368 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


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APPENDIX 


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370 


A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


PHILIPPINE 

Products for a Series of Years, 

(There is no other way of arriving at the productions 
necessarily ignores the products raised and consumed in 
manufactures made for home consumption, which may be 
such manufactures form an inconsiderable proportion 
manufactures, local or foreign, bear but small relation to 


Value of the Leading Exports from the Philippine 


Year. 

Hemp. 

Sugar. 

Tobacco. 

Unmanufactured. 

Dollars. 

Total 

w % 
Exports. 

Dollars. 

Total 

„ % 
Exports. 

Dollars. 

Total 

„ % 
Exports 

1885. 

5,509,757 

27 

8,669,522 

42 

1,288,955 

6 

1886. 

4,340,058 

22 

7,019,978 

35 

759,931 

4 

1887. 

8,161,550 

42 

6,156,709 

32 

640,699 

3 

1888. 

8,099,422 

42 

G,271,030 

32 

1,340,314 

7 

1889. 

10,402,614 

41 

9,101,024 

35 

1,404,754 

5 

Aver, annual 

7,302,680 

35 

7,443,653 

35 

1,086,931 

5 

1890. 

6,925,564 

32 

7,265,030 

34 

1,320,752 

6 

1891. 

10,323,913 

49 

5,696,746 

27 

1,258,743 

6 

1892. 

6,886,526 

36 

7,768,595 

41 

1,554,264 

8 

1893. 

7,697,164 

35 

10,368,883 

47 

1,463,853 

7 

1894. 

7,243,842 

44 

5,476,617 

33 

702,922 

4 

Aver, annual 

7,815,402 

39 

7,315,174 

36 

1,260,107 

6 

1900. 

13,290,400 

58 

2,397,144 

10 

1,033,900 

4 

1901. 

15,976,640 

65 

2,549,147 

10 

748,485 

3 

1902. 

19,290,610 

67 

3,342,473 

12 

955,166 

3 

1903. 

22,000,588 

68 

3,324,554 

10 

954,259 

3 

1904. 

20,944,177 

72 

3,092,734 

11 

989,519 

3 

Aver, annual 

18,300,483 

66 

2,941,210 

11 

936,266 

3 

1905. 

21,757,344 

65 

5,073,233 

15 

1,367,412 

4 

1905. 

19,612,632 

60 

4,554,092 

14 

1,767,365 

5 


(a) Value of cocoanuts included, 1885-1894. 

Note. — Figures prior to 1900 are taken from “ Estadistica general del 
Total exports include gold and silver. 





























APPENDIX 


371 


PRODUCTIONS. 

and Countries to which Exported. 

of the Philippines than by the exports, a method which 
the islands. There are, of course, a limited number of 
ascertained through the internal revenue statistics. But 
of the total of home manufactures; and, moreover, all 
the local consumption.) 


Islands, Calendar Years 1885-1894, 1900-1906. 


Tobacco. 

Manufactured. 

Copra. 

(a) 

Coffee. 

Total, 

Including 

ALL OTHER 

Articles. 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Dollars. 

% 

Dollars. 

% 

Dollars. 

% 

Dollars. 


Exports. 


Exports. 


Exports. 


1 008 403 

5 



820,610 

4 

20,551 434 

1,250,162 

6 

5,781 

• • • • • 

1,059,021 

5 

20,113,847 

918,371 

5 

36,809 


1,612,009 

8 

19,447,997 

1,108,867 

6 

131.347 

1 

1,500,418 

8 

19,404,434 

850,740 

3 

209,820 

1 

1,818,544 

7 

25,671,322 

1,027,309 

5 

76,752 


1,362,120 

6 

21,037,807 

1,148,281 

5 

85,764 

• • • • • 

1,588.416 

7 

21,547,541 

891,563 

4 



956,049 

5 

20,878,359 

981,476 

5 

743,918 

4 

434,550 

2 

19,163,050 

969.451 

4 

414.652 

2 

103,439 


22,183,223 

873,253 

5 

1,172,191 

7 

177,589 

1 

16,541,842 

972,805 

5 

483,305 

3 

652,009 

3 

20,062,983 

1,227,332 

5 

3,182,481 

14 

3,142 

• • • • • 

22,990,373 

1.883,456 

8 

1,611,838 

7 

5,437 

• • • • • 

24,503,353 

1,007,458 

4 

2,701.725 

9 

2,432 

• • • • • 

28,671.904 

902,616 

3 

3,819,793 

12 

1,005 

• • • • • 

32,396,746 

1,020,231 

4 

1,981,122 

7 

3,153 

• • • • • 

29,149,500 

1,228,019 

4 

2,650,392 

10 

3,052 

• • • • • 

27,542,375 

914,291 

3 

3,244,703 

9 

2,482 

• • • • • 

33,454,774 

1,075,639 

3 

4,373,702 

13 

1,822 

. 

32,642,892 


comercio exterior de las Islas Pilipinas,” issued by the Spanish Government, 


































HEMP EXPOETS TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, CALENDAR YEARS 

1885 - 1894 , 1894 - 1906. 1 


872 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


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873 


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S74 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


THE SOURCES OF SUPPLY OF THE SUGAR 
CONSUMPTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
FOR THE YEAR 1900 ARE AS FOLLOWS: — 


Cuba. 

United States. 

Hawaii. 

Porto Pico. 

Java. 

Germany . 

South America. 

West Indies (except Cuba) . 

Belgium. 

Philippine Islands . . . . 

Austria-Hungary . . . . 

Mexico . 

Other countries . . . . 


Pounds. 

2,683,893,033 

1,304,607,360 

852,468,867 

428,916,079 

425,372,363 

303,430,122 

172,627,104 

163,496,319 

65,861,744 

26,283,929 

9,934,000 

3,186,469 

9,575,715 


Total. 6,449,653,104 

Less sugar exported. 25,731,407 


Amount available for consumption 6,423,921,697 


Of the above imports that from Porto Rico and the 
Hawaiian Islands entered free of duty, that from the 
Philippine Islands at twenty-five per cent below 
the regular rates of duty, and that from Cuba, under 
the reciprocity treaty, at twenty per cent below the 
regular rates of duty. 
















SUGAR-PRODUCING ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 
USING STEAM, WATER, AND HAND OR ANIMAL POWER. 


APPENDIX 


875 



1 The value of a peso, or Philippine dollar, is fifty cents American currency. 





































Value of leaf (unmanufactured) tobacco exported from the 

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, BY COUNTRIES, CALENDAR YEARS 1SS5-1894, 


376 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


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VALUE OF CIGAES, CIGAEETTES, AND ALL OTHER MANUFACTURED TO¬ 
BACCO EXPORTED FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, BY COUNTRIES, 
CALENDAR YEARS 1885-1894, 1900-1900. 1 


APPENDIX 


377 


Total. 

Dollars. 

1,008,403 

1,250,162 

918,371 

1,108,867 

850,740 

1,027,309 

1,148,281 

891,563 

981,476 

969,451 

873,253 

972,805 

1,227,332 

1,883,456 

1,007,458 

992,616 

1,029,231 

1,228,019 

914,291 

1,075,639 

Other 

Coun¬ 

tries. 

Dollars. 

61,020 

189,335 

108,998 

25,219 

89,823 

94,879 

154,057 

100,199 

30,886 

170,179 

127,759 

116,618 

150,216 

145,214 

123,616 

139,437 

119,695 

135,635 

109,553 

183,137 

Austral¬ 

asia. 

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British 

East 

Indies. 

Dollars. 

865,372 

890,526 

696,683 

206,066 

157,291 

563,188 

245,669 

258,624 

302,484 

173,629 

216,884 

239.458 

136,733 

170,122 

156,391 

174,449 

173,496 

162,238 

130,502 

129.224 

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Dollars. 

391,112 

396,955 

325,688 

374,997 

417,875 

381,325 

327,563 

338,075 

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\ Figures prior to 1900 are taken from “Estadistica general del comercio exterior de las Islas Filipinas,” issued by the 
Spanish Government. 

2 Hong-Kong included under British East Indies from 1885 to 1887, and from 1888 to 1894 under China. 














































VALUE OF COPRA EXPORTED FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS , BY 
COUNTRIES , CALENDAR YEARS 1885 - 1894, 1 1900 - 1906. 2 


378 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


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COUNTRIES, CALENDAR YEARS 1885-1894, 1900-190C. 1 


APPENDIX 


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380 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


MEMBERS OF THE DAVAO (MINDANAO ISLAND) 
PLANTERS’ ASSOCIATION 


Lais Trading and Development Co. .. .Lais .H. S. Peabody. 

Culamen.Malita.R. K. Cole. 

{ J N Carrigan. 
J N Roscom" 


Pioneer Malalag.Malalag .. .. J. T. Byrne. 

Paul, Nieman & Co.Malalag . . { NiV rna.n 

Reid, Cochran & Co.Malalag . .. .Mr. Reid. 


Mindanao Estates Co. 

Jolo Planting Company. 

Balutakay Hemp Plantation Co. 

American Agricultural and Com-. . 

mercial Company . 

Digas Estate . 

Keller & Gohn Company. 

Wilson Plantation Company. 

O. V. Wood . 

Vandermerion & Co.. 

Luis Sorroche. 

Tagulaya. 

Fernando Navarro . 

Quinucul) 

Trinidad I" 

Dos Hermanos ) 

Hacienda Paz > . 

Kentucky Ranch. 

Hacienda Fiel. 

Belen. 

Tagun Plantation Company . 

American Plantation Company. 

I. H. Rogers. 

Piso Cocoanut Plantation. 


Padada ... j 

Maxville 
Balutakay .. 


J. H. Shipley. 

J. E. Shubert. 

A. C. McClellen. 
J. P. Skinner. 


Cooksville . .0. B. Watkins. 

Digas .M. Sawyer. 

G f F. L. Keller. 

.Santa Cruz { TT _ , 

1 W. H. Gohn. 

Lacaron . . . .C. D. Wilson. 

Santa Cruz . . O. V. Wood. 

Santa Cruz . .V. Vandermerion. 

Astorga . . . .Luis Sorroche. 

Tagulaya .. .Juan B. Urquiza. 

Daron.Fernando Navarro. 

Daron.Manuel Sanches. 


Daron.Gregorio Palacios. 

Daliao .J. L. Burchfield. 

. Dumuy.Josd Bastida y Ramon, 

Davao.Juan Auad. 

Tagun.George Sickles. 

Tagun.Mr. Harper. 

Mattiao.I. H. Rogers. 

Piso .Peter Harding. 






































APPENDIX 


881 


GROWTH OF POPULATION 


Year 

Population. 

Authority. 

Per cent 
of Annual 
Increase. 

1591 

1735 

1799 

1800 

667,612 

837,182 

1,502,574 

1,561,251 

(Encomiendas or slave-holdings) 
(Church census) 

Buzeta 

Zuniga 

3.9 

1808 

1,741,234 

C^duTas (e.g. poll tax) 

Cddulas 

1.4 

1812 

1,933,331 

2.6 

1815 

2,052,994 

C^dulas “ 

2.0 

1817 

2,062,805 

C^dulas “ “ 

0.2 

1819 

2,106,230 

C<klulas “ 

2.1 

1829 

2,593,287 

Church 

2.1 

1840 

3,096,031 

Local officials 

1.6 

1845 

3,434,007 

Buzeta 

2.1 

1848 

3,745,603 

Arenas 

2.9 

1850 

3,857,424 

Buzeta 

1.5 

1858 

4,290,381 

Bowring 

1.8 

1870 

4,712,006 

Guia Oficial 

0.8 

1876 

5.501,356 

Church 

2.6 

1877 

5,537,685 

Census 

1.6 

1879 

5,487,218 

Guia Oficial 

0.9 

1885 

5,839,383 

Church 

1.0 

1887 

5,984,727 

Census 

1.2 

1891 

6,252,957 

Guia Oficial 

1.1 

1833 

6,333,584 

Guia Oficial 

1.8 

1894 

6,490.584 

Church 

2.5 

1899 

6,703,311 

Father Algud 

0.7 

1903 

6,987,686 

Census 

1.2 


DENSITY OF POPULATION 

The density of population in the Philippines as a 
whole is 67 persons to the square mile. It is exceeded 
therefore by Belgium, population 589 per square mile; 
Java, 553; Netherlands, 426; United Kingdom, 346; 
Straits Settlements, 344; Japan, 310; Italy, 294; Ger¬ 
many, 291; Porto Rico, 264; Switzerland, 210; France, 
191; and by many others, including British India, Por¬ 
tugal, Denmark, Jamaica, Korea, Servia, Ceylon, Rou- 
mania, Spain, and others. 










382 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


The density of population of the total continental 
United States is 26 persons to the square mile. This 
very low average population per square mile is of course 
accounted for by the inclusion of many vast arid wastes 
such as do not exist in the Philippines, as well as some 
yet existing thinly settled fertile regions. 

The State of Indiana in density of population most 
nearly approaches the Philippines, having 70 persons 
per square mile as against 67 in the Philippines. The 
State of Rhode Island has a population of 407 to the 
square mile, or more than six times as great as the aver¬ 
age in the Philippines. Massachusetts has 349 to the 
square mile, which in density compares with the Philip¬ 
pine province of Cebu, 337, and Pangasinan, 334 to 
the square mile. The most densely populated province 
in the islands is Ilicos Sur with 398 persons to the 
square mile. The three provinces mentioned are the 
only ones having more than 300 to the square mile. 

The British Isles though less in area by 7000 square 
miles than the Philippines have more than five times 
as great a density of population. Japan, of which only 
one-twelfth is deemed capable of cultivation, has never¬ 
theless a density of population which multiplies that 
of the Philippines by 4£. It will doubtless be many 
generations, perhaps centuries, before the islands are 
populated to the extent of their productivity. There is 
no tropical country more uniformly fertile throughout, 
or more susceptible of cultivation, or where the produce 
of a very limited area will sustain a greater population. 
The vast island of Mindanao has a population of but 14 
to the square mile. 


APPENDIX 


383 


HEALTH CONDITIONS. 

Health conditions in the Philippine Islands have been 
one of the chief topics for discussion among Americans 
since the occupation. The pioneers came here antici¬ 
pating torrid heat, pestilential fevers, cholera, and plague, 
and they lived in constant dread of these deadly enemies 
of the human race. Indeed, if but a fraction of the doc¬ 
trine be true, that the mind has a great influence over 
the body, there is little reason to doubt that much sick¬ 
ness and distress were caused in the early years of Ameri¬ 
can rule by the bitter maligning this climate constantly 
received. Our soldiers imagined that amputation of 
limbs meant death, and a large number of wounded were 
being constantly shipped out of the country by army sur¬ 
geons, themselves believing that the simple operation of 
amputation was here a very grave matter. Seven years 
have passed since then. Major J. M. Banister, of the 
medical corps of the army, made the following state¬ 
ment recently as the result of a preliminary study of the 
health of Manila: 

“ 1. Aseptic results will just as surely follow aseptic 
methods in the Philippines as in the United States or 
Europe. 

“2. Should septic infection occur in any clean case 
subjected to operation in the Philippines, blame the 
technique, not the climate. 

“ 3. Successful attainment of the object for which ope¬ 
ration has been undertaken will follow careful and skilful 
surgery in the Philippines, with the same regularity 
that we have been accustomed to observe in such work 
at home. 


384 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


“4. Convalescence, after surgical operations in the 
Philippines, is rapid and satisfactory, when such opera¬ 
tions have been carefully and skilfully performed.” 

The fact that Major Banister’s statements have the 
endorsement of the leading physicians and surgeons of 
the islands proves conclusively that the first impressions 
of our army doctors were entirely wrong. 

Major-General Wood in his report to the Civil Gover¬ 
nor for last year states that there is nothing in the 
climate of Mindanao to prohibit a long residence there. 
He also calls attention to the fact that in Borneo and 
Java many Dutch and English planters live contented 
and happy lives. The Congress of physicians and sur¬ 
geons which met only a few months ago in Manila, and 
which was composed of all the most prominent men of 
this profession in the Philippines, was unanimous in the 
assertion that the climate was conducive to health, if the 
simple rules of sanitation and hygiene were observed 
consistently. 

Death is almost an unknown visitor among the Ameri¬ 
cans in the islands. This is due partly to the excellent 
precautions taken against such diseases as are liable to 
prevail, but mainly owing to the fact that none but 
young and vigorous men come here. Allowing for all 
things the fact remains that the average health of Ameri¬ 
cans in the islands is good. The fact is that we are away 
from home, and when we have stood it so long, and can’t 
think of anything else to decry, the long-suffering cli¬ 
mate has to stand scapegoat for our grievances. 

Vital statistics of the Philippines need some analysis 
to be intelligible. The death rate is doubled by the neg¬ 
lect and faulty treatment of small children, half of 
whom die within twelve months from birth. Yet, in 
spite of this fact, the total death rate of Manila for all 
nationalities has steadily decreased since the American 


APPENDIX 


385 


occupation. The Board of Health is probably one of the 
most efficient in the world, and the effective control of 
the recent cholera outbreak may be cited as evidence 
of the new era of Philippine health. 

The high winds that prevail are sometimes regarded as 
being very prejudicial to the climate. Such winds at 
their worst are less dangerous than the cyclones of the 
Middle West, and less frequent in occurrence. The 
average typhoon is almost unnoticed, and the people go 
about their work or recreations heedless of the weather. 
Far worse storms visit the blizzard-infected country of the 
Northwest, and far greater damage is done every year by 
storms in the home country than in the Philippines. 
The greatest damage done by these typhoons, or baguios , 
is to the shipping interests, but it is now stated with 
authority that in Philippine waters any vessel equipped 
with the latest instruments for predicting the approach 
of winds may always have time to make a port of safety. 
The Weather Bureau has made a thorough study of the 
laws that govern these “twisters,” and for those who 
are prepared for them they have lost their terrors. 

A distinguished visitor to Manila remarked that of all 
tropical countries none afforded an atmosphere like that 
of the Philippines. “ This air,” he said, “has about it a 
caress, a soothing quality that comforts and rests one 
after the day’s work.” 

This same quality has been noticed by many persons, 
and could easily be lauded as some magic quality that 
lent a superhuman power to the climate. The facts are, 
however, that this genuine charm is due to just the right 
proportions of moisture and temperature in air that is 
free from impurities or extremes of stagnation or high 
winds. These qualities would produce a charm any¬ 
where at any time, but the trouble is that just these in¬ 
gredients are not elsewhere to be found, and so far no 

25 


386 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


one has been able to manufacture them. If the visitor 
wants to enjoy them he will have to come to Manila to 
find them. — Manila Daily Commercial Bulletin. 


DEATHS OF AMEKICANS IN THE 
PHILIPPINES 


Year. 

No. of Deaths. 

Rate per M. 

1899 (3 months) 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

6 

17 

39 

145 

92 

76 

79 

(soldiers) 8.65% 

5.468 • 

3.873 

8.886 

33.037 (cholera) 
20.961 (cholera) 
17.316 

18.000 

(civilians) 9.34 


Average in the United States, 17.4. 1 

The death rate among Chinamen for the year ending 
August 31, 1905, was 16.15; for Spaniards, 20.17; for 
Filipinos, 44.54; for other nationalities, 29.05. 

It will be observed that in those races not affected by 
the infant mortality, the death rate is comparatively 
low. It should be stated that the death rate among 
American infants and children is relatively low. 

Of course it is recognized that there is no place in the 
world suitable for and agreeable to all persons. This is 
true because there is so great a variety of physical 
natures that no single combination of climatic influences, 
however favorable, can be found which will satisfy all 
their requirements and conditions. The fact that some 
people who observe carefully the laws of right living do 
not retain their health in the Philippine Islands does 
not necessarily indicate that the climate is unhealthful. 
The same thing is true of any country in the world. 

1 Referring to general average in the United States, and not for 
1906 alone. 










APPENDIX 


887 


Many Americans and Europeans enjoy better health in 
the Philippines than at home. Generally speaking, 
acclimatization is complete by the end of the second 
year and physiological adaptation thoroughly established, 
so that the normal expectation of health and life is as 
well assured as in the temperate zones. 

The mortality statistics of the Philippines make an 
unfavorable showing because of the high rate of infant 
mortality, due to causes not always associated with the 
general- climatic and health conditions of the country. 
The death rate in Manila, and probably in the entire 
archipelago, of persons over five years of age, will 
compare favorably with that of many cities of the 
United States. 

DEATHS FROM DISEASE AMONG PHILIPPINE 
SCOUTS, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING 
JUNE 30, 1905. * 1 


Causes of Death 

No. of Deaths. 

Mean Strength. 
Ratio per M. 

Tuberculosis of lungs. 

13 

2.82 

Beriberi. 

7 

1.52 

Typhoid fever .•. 

3 

.65 

Malarial fever, pernicious. 

2 

.43 

Hemorrhage, cause unknown . 

1 

.22 

Purpura hemorrhagica. 

1 

.22 

Smallpov . 

1 

.22 

Acute dysentery . 

1 

.22 

Pneumonia . 

1 

.22 

Pright’s riisease . 

1 

.22 

Gonorrheal endocarditis. 

1 

.22 

Gangrene of the lungs . 

1 

.22 

Carbuncle. 

1 

.22 

Unknown. 

1 

.22 




35 

7.59 


The above table shows by the army figures that the 
death rate of Filipino males enlisted is, exclusive of 
gunshot wounds, only 7.59 per thousand. 

1 A department of the regular army embracing native soldiers 
living under American army hygiene. 
























388 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


WAGE-EARNERS AND OCCUPATIONS 

The following table shows the number of those en¬ 
gaged in the various occupations, which include practi¬ 
cally all wage-earners. 1 


Occupation. 


Farmers and farm laborers 2 

Weavers and spinners . 

Day laborers . 

Merchants. 

Fishermen 3 . 

Launderers. 

Seamstresses . 

Servants . 

Carpenters . 

Cooks . 

Sailors.. 

Mat makers. 

Police and Constabulary ... 

Distillers.. 

Herdsmen. 

Coachmen. 

Tailors. 

Salesmen. 

Hatmakers. 

Clerks . 

Cigarmakers. 

Bagmakers. 

Boatmen. 

Musicians and music teachers 

Nipaworkers. 

Embroiderers . 

Potters.... 

Government officials. 

Teachers. 

Blacksmiths. 

Watchmakers and jewellers ., 

Woodcutters . 

Shoemakers . 

Stevedores . 

Messengers. 

Saltmakers. 

Water carriers. 

Copramakers . 

Gardeners and florists. 

Bakers. 

Sawyers . 

Agents. 

Painters and glaziers . 


Number. 


1,238,327 

589,906 

384,000 

137,311 

116,799 

68,909 

65,285 

54,523 

38,230 

28,747 

23,027 

22,272 

20,935 

15,379 

14,683 

14,610 

14,201 

13,165 

12,979 

12,360 

11,036 

11,313 

8,864 

8,661 

7,349 

7,224 

6,125 

5,950 

5,362 

5,185 

4,794 

4,621 

4,445 

4,272 

4,210 

3,602 

3,390 

3,128 

3,053 

3,026 

2,967 

2,758 

2,583 


Per cent, 
of Total. 


40.7 

18.8 
12.6 

4.5 

3.8 
2.2 
2.2 

1.8 
1.3 
0.9 
0.8 
0.7 
0.7 
0 5 
0.5 
0.5 
0.5 
0.4 
0.4 
0.4 
0.4 
0.4 
0.3 
0.3 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.2 
0.1 
0.1 
0.1 
0.1 
0.1 
0.1 
0.1 


1 From the census of the Philippines taken under direction of the 
Philippine Commission in 1903. 

2 As explained elsewhere most of the people are engaged at farm work 
of some kind during a portion of the year, and a strict interpretation would 
assuredly raise the census estimate here given. 

3 Assuredly greatly underestimated. 






















































APPENDIX 


889 


Occupation. 

Number. 

Per Cent, 
op Total. 

Barbers and hairdressers . 

2,489 

2,459 


Sextons and beadles. 


Midwives . 

2’354 

2,020 

2,015 

1,924 

1,767 

1,714 

1,698 

1,604 

1,366 

1,315 

1,273 

1,266 

1,172 

1,153 

1,080 

1,051 


Stonecutters. 


Machinists . 


Engineers and firemen . 


Divers. 


Cigarettemakers . 


Ropemakers. 


Phvsicians and surgeons. 




Butchers. 


Pilots. 










Rambooworkers. 



1,046 

950 





940 



892 



879 



862 



808 



757 



715 



709 



699 



653 



633 



533 



530 



536 



490 



476 



457 



445 



442 



418 



396 



395 



366 



343 


Railway employees (steam and (street).. . 

336 

331 



301 



276 



280 



245 



244 



239 



231 



210 



205 



189 



188 





1 Of the 476 prostitutes almost all are in Manila and of all prostitutes 
seven-tenths were from foreign lands. 

2 Now greatly increased. 



































































390 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Occupation. 

Number. 

Per Cent, 
of Total. 

Prison wardens . 

176 


Locksmiths. 

169 


Compositors. 

168 


Collectors. 

152 


Gamblers . 

143 


Draftsmen . 

138 


Lime-burners. 

137 


Interpreters. 

131 


Actors, theatrical managers . 

128 


"Rudders arid contractors . 

127 


Iron founders. 

126 


Bookbinders. 

124 


Restaurant and saloon keepers . 

111 


Milliners. 

110 


Engineers, civil, etc., and surveyors 1 . 

108 


Showmen . 

100 


Soaomakers. 

98 


Sailmakers. 

95 


Hotel and boarding-house keepers. 

92 


Weighers. 

86 


Nuns . 

81 


Electricians . 

81 


Notaries . 

79 


Undertakers. 

68 


Lithographers . 

66 


Light-house keepers. 

65 


Turners. 

50 


Stenographers and typewriters 1 . 

52 


Literary and scientific persons. 

50 


Architects. 

41 


Dentists . 

38 


Telegraph and telephone linemen 1 . 

38 


Veterinary surgeons. 

37 





1 Now greatly increased. 


Occupations as indicated by per cent, of total popu¬ 
lation : 



Philippine 

Islands. 

United 

States. 

Agricultural pursuits . 

41.3 

35.7 

Professional service. 

0.8 

4.3 

Domestic and personal service. 

18.8 

19 2 

Trade and transportation . 

7.5 

16.4 

Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits. 

31.6 

24.4 



The employment of wage-earners as to sex are thus 
indicated: 


























































APPENDIX 


891 



Philippine 

Islands. 

United 

States. 

Male. 

Female. 

Male. 

Female. 

Agricultural pursuits . 

57.8 

1.2 

7.5 

12.1 

8.8 

0.2 

7.4 

69.9 

39.6 

3.5 

17.9 

24.3 

18.4 

8.1 

9.4 

24.7 

Professional service . 

Trade and transportation . 

Manufacturing and mechanical pursuits . 


Of the lawyers (total number 860) five-sixths were 
Filpinos; of priests (total number 1153) more than half; 
of physicians (total number 1604) 1326 were natives. 


REPOET OF PHILIPPINE COMMISSION ON 
SCHOOL ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE 
1905. 

The number of primary schools increased from 2,233 
in July, 1904, to 2,727 in March, 1905; the number of 
primary teachers from 3,585 to 4,457; but the enrolment 
in the schools increased far out of proportion to the in¬ 
crease of teachers and facilities for properly instructing 
these pupils. This astonishing growth of numbers at¬ 
tending schools is shown by the following statistics taken 
from different parts of the school year: July, 1904, 251,* 
475; November, 1904, 345,018; March, 1905, 501,000, 
which is the number of children enrolled in the primary 
schools for the year. This constant rise in attendance 
was accomplished without compulsory attendance, and 
was to a very great degree due to a greatly awakened de¬ 
sire on the part of the Filipino parents for education for 
their children. 

1906. 

It was found that the enrolment in primary schools 
greatly exceeded the facilities, and directions have been 
















392 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


issued to exclude not only children below the age of six, 
but if necessary to make the age of entrance eight to nine 
or nine to ten years, and to insist upon regularity in attend¬ 
ance. The method formerly employed in reporting the 
enrolment of pupils was found to be inaccurate and was 
therefore discontinued. No account has been taken 
during the past year of the total enrolment except for 
the month of March, the last month of the school .year, 
during which there was a total enrolment of 375,554, 1 
made up as follows: 


First grade . . 
Second grade. 
Third grade . 

Intermediate: 

Fourth grade. 
Fifth grade . . 
Sixth grade .. 

Secondary: 

Seventh grade 
Eighth grade. 
Ninth grade. . 


264,243 

73,074 

27,386 

-364,703 


6,139 

2,710 

1,448 

- 10,297 


446 

95 

13 


Total enrolment 


375,554 


LITERACY IN 1902. 

The following table shows the proportions of the 
literate population in 1902. A census at the present 
time would undoubtedly show an extensive improve¬ 
ment, since more than 400,000 children have yearly 

1 In regard to the above figures issued from the report of the 
Philippine Commission giving the enrolment for March, 1906, as 
375,554, the word enrolment, in the opinion of the writer, Major 
McIntyre of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, and many others, should 
undoubtedly read attendance. That a mistake or misprint has oc¬ 
curred is obvious from the widely recognized fact that the attendance 
and enrolment in 1906 were both greater than in 1905. 

















APPENDIX 893 


taken advantage of the American public-school system 
for almost eight years. 

The table refers to those of over ten years of age. 

Can read. 

Men . 

Women. 


Can read and write. 

Men. 

Women. 


Have superior education. 

Men. 

Women. 



This table refers to ability to read more than the 
habit of reading; such reading as is general among all 
but the totally illiterate in the United States would 
doubtless bring the people into the class having a supe¬ 
rior education. 


PHILIPPINE DISTANCES 

Table of distances direct in statute miles between 
Manila and the capitals or chief towns of the various 
islands or provinces. It will be noted from the follow¬ 
ing that the distances are much greater than generally 
supposed. 


Town. 

Province or Island. 

Route. 

No. OF 
Miles. 

From Manila to 
Aparri 

Cagaydn, Northern 
Luzon 

Steamer, via the north¬ 
west and northern coast 




of Luzon . 

480 

Albay 

North Luzon 

Via Straits of San Ber¬ 


nardino, Visayan Sea, 

414 



and Verde Passage .... 

606 

Bacolod 

Negros Occidental, Visa- 



yan Islands 

Via Guimards Strait .... 

308 

Baguid 

Mindoro and China Seas . 
Overland via Manila & 

515 

Benguet, North Luzon 

Dagupan R.R. 

143 

Batangas 

Batangas, South Luzon 

By wagon overland. 

59 

Via Verde Passage. 

111 


























894 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Town. 

Province or Island. 

Route. 

No. op 
Miles. 

Bayombong 

Nueva Viscaya, North 
Luzon 

By horseback overland .. 

134 

Cagay&n 

Cagaydn Sulu, Sulu Sea 

By steamer. 

540 

Catbalogan 

Samar, Visayan Islands 

By steamer. 

328 

Cavite 

Cavite, S. Luzon 

Via Seas of Samar and 
Visaya and Verde passage 
By launch via Manila Bay 

395 

9 

Cebu 

Cebu, Visayan Islands 

By steamer. 

357 

Cotabato 

Cotabato, Mindanao 

Via Visayan Sea, Mindoro 
Sea, and Verde Passage .. 
By steamer. 

466 

552 

Cuyo 

Cuvos Group, Sulu Sea 

Via Celebes Sea, Basilan 
Strait, Sulu and Mindoro 
Seas, Mindoro Strait, and 

China Sea . 

By steamer. 

748 

257 

Dapitan 

Dapitan, Mindanao 

By steamer. 

443 

Davao 

Davao, Mindanao 

Via Sulu and Mindoro Seas, 
Mindoro Strait, and China 

Sea . 

By steamer . 

524 

610 

Ilagan 

Isabela, North Luzon 

Via Davao Gulf, Sarangani 
and Basilan Strait, Sulu 
Sea, Mindoro Strait, and 

China Sea . 

Overland via trail . 

995 

250 

Iloilo 

Iloilo, Panay, Visayan 
Islands 

By steamer. 

297 

Laoag 

Ilocos Norte, N. Luzon 

By steamer or along coast- 


Lingay^n 

Pangasindn, N. Luzon 

road . 

By Manila & DagupanR.R. 

211 

112 

Lucena 

Tayabas, S. Luzon 

Overland. 

64 

Misamis 

Mindanao 

By steamer. 

493 

Nueva C&ceres 

Ambos Camarines, S. 
Luzon 

Via Iligan Bay, Sulu Sea, 
Mindoro" Strait, and 
China Sea. 

By steamer. 

569 

116 

Rombldn 

Romblon, Visayan 

Islands 

By steamer... 

167 

Santa Cruz 

Laguna, S. Luzon 

Via Verde Passage. 

By steamer. 

219 

34 

Sorsogdn 

Sorsogdn, S. Luzon 

By steamer. 

236 

Sulu 

Sulu Islands, Sulu Archi¬ 
pelago, Sulu Sea 

By steamer. 

595 

Surigao 

Mindanao 

By steamer . 

459 

Tacloban 

Leyte, Visayan Islands 

By steamer. 

360 

Tdrlac 

Tdrlac, N. Luzon 

Via San Juanico Strait, 
Daram Passage, San 
Bernardino Strait, Min¬ 
doro Sea, and Verde 

Passage . 

By Manila & Dagupan 

414 

Tuguegarao 

Cagaydn, N. Luzon 

R. R. 

Overland or by steamer . . 

69 

211 

Vigan 

Ilocos Sur, N. Luzon 

By steamer or Manila & 


Zamboanga 

Mindanao 

Dagupan R.R. 

By steamer. 

210 

561 


Via Sulu, Mindoro, and 
China Sea . 

585 









































APPENDIX 


395 


TRANS-PACIFIC ONE-WAY THROUGH FARES 
FROM NEW YORK. 


Via all authorized all-rail routes 
to San Francisco, thence via Pacific 
Mail Steamship Co., Occidental and 
Oriental Steamship Co., or Toyo 
Risen Raisha (Oriental Steamship 
Co.), or to Seattle, thence via Great 
Northern Steamship Co., or to Van¬ 
couver thence via Canadian Pacific 
Steamship Co. 

First cabin 
with first- 
class accom¬ 
modation 
overland. 

Servants 1 
other than 
Asiatic 
with first- 
class accom¬ 
modation 
overland. 

Steerage 
with mixed 
class 

accommo¬ 

dation 

overland. 

Yokohama, Japan. 

$278.50 

$211.85 

$153.50 

Robe (Hiogo), Japan. 

286.00 

216.65 

157.50 

Nagasaki, Japan. 

301.00 

226.85 

163.50 

Shanghai, China . 

303.50 

228.50 

168.50 

Hong-Rong, China (British). 

303.50 

228.50 

168.50 

Manila, Philippine Islands (United 
States), via Pacific Mail Steamship 
Co., Occidental and Oriental Steam¬ 
ship Co., or Toyo Risen Raisha and 
Nagasaki: 

Direct . 

303.50 

228.50 

168.50 

Via Hong-Rong. 

328.50 

253.50 

193.50 



1 Via Pacific Mail Steamship Co., Occidental and Oriental Steamship Co., 
and Toyo Risen Kaisha (Oriental Steamship Co.), only first-cabin passage 
beyond Hong-Kong. 



















396 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


ROUND-TRIP, BASING FARES AND REGULATIONS 
FROM PACIFIC COAST. 


From San Francisco, viaPacific 
Mail Steamship Co., Occidental 
and Oriental Steamship Co., or 

First cabin. 

Servants other than 
Asiatic. 

Toyo Kisen Kaisha (Oriental 
Steamship Co.); from Seattle, 
via Great Northern Steamship 
Co., or to Vancouver thence via 
Canadian Pacific S. S. Co. 

Four. 

months. 

Twelve. 

months. 

Four. 

months. 

Twelve 

months. 

Yokohama, Japan. 

$300.00 

$350.00 

$200.00 

$233.35 

Kobe (Iliogo), Japan. 

312.50 

365.00 

208.35 

243.35 

Nagasaki, Japan. 

334.00 

393.75 

222.70 

262.50 

Shanghai, China . 

337.50 

393.75 

225.00 

262.50 

TTonv-KVmg . 

337.50 

393.75 

225.00 

262.50 

Manila, Philippine Islands, via 
Hong-Kong (see Steamship 
Companies, IJong-Kong to Ma¬ 
nila, one way). 

377.50 

433.75 

265.00 

302.50 

Via Pacific Mail Steamship Co., 
or Oceanic Steamship Co., to 
Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. . 
From San Francisco via Oceanic 
Steamship Co., to Pago Pago, 
Samoan Islands. 

135.00 

225.00 

i 

90.00 

250.00 


A new line out of Vancouver 
backed by Boston capital has re¬ 
cently put on a line at which all 
passage i s i n termediate at $ 100.00 
one way; accommodations are 
excellent. 




1 Via Pacific Mail Steamship Co. or Oceanic Steamship Co. only. 

Meals and berth on trans-Pacific steamers included in above fares. 

Children five years of age and under twelve, half-fare through to trans¬ 
pacific destination ; under five years of age, free to San Francisco, Seattle, 
or Vancouver. On trans-Pacific steamers children two years of age and under 
five will be charged quarter-fare; under two years of age, free. One child 
only under two years of age will be carried free with each family, and addi¬ 
tional children under that age will be charged quarter-fare. 

For those who desire a reduction in transportation to Manila, arrange¬ 
ments can sometimes be made with the Quartermaster’s Department, 
United States Army, for transportation via the Army transports. Trans¬ 
portation is free, but one dollar per diem while en route is charged for 
meals. 

The Boston Steamship Co., operating the excellent steamers “Tremont” 
and “Shawmut” out of Seattle, makes a charge of but $180 for first-class 
passage from Seattle to Manila, and a charge of $100 for “ intermediate ” 
passage. The intermediate is very good, ranking above second cabin on 
other lines and does not differ materially from first-class passage, saving in 
accommodations. 

























APPENDIX 


397 


PILIPINO COINS 

Filipino silver peso — fifty cents American currency. 

Filipino silver half-peso. 

Filipino silver peseta, with a currency value of one- 
fifth of a peso. 

Filipino silver half-peseta, with a currency value of 
one-tenth of a peso. 

Filipino copper centavo, with a currency value of one 
one-hundredth of a peso. 

The currency of the Philippines, it will therefore be 
observed, is simple, and will be readily borne in mind 
by any one who fixes upon the value of the peso (i. e. f 
fifty cents) and applies the decimal system as in the 
United States. The face value of coins is arbitrarily 
fixed by the Government. The fluctuations in specie 
value, however, have been considerable on account of 
the varying values of silver. The recent rise in value 
of silver and the fact that Philippine coins are exchange¬ 
able on their face value for gold has led to the exporta¬ 
tion of the coins in considerable amounts. At the present 
time this is forbidden and a recoinage of the currency 
into coins of less intrinsic value is being undertaken. 
Travellers should remember that exchange in Oriental 
countries is done on the basis of gold. Thus to change 
Japanese money into Philippine currency one may pay 
two exchange rates, first on changing Japanese coins into 
gold and second in reducing the gold to terms of Philip¬ 
pine money. Philippine money is generally called “Co- 
nant,” to distinguish it from United States currency. 
An excellent report entitled “ Coinage and Banking in 
the Philippine Islands ” was made by Charles A. Conant 
to the Secretary of War in 1901. 


398 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


Measure (metric) terms in most common use: 


Hectoliter . . . . 

Kilogram . . . . 

Kilometer . . . . 

Liter. 

Meter. 

Meter, square. . , 

Meter, cubic (stere) 


( 2.838 United States bushels. 

| 26.417 United States gallons. 

. 2.2046 United States pounds. 

. 0.62137 United States mile. 

. 1.0567 United States quarts. 

. 39.37 United States inches. 

. 10.764 United States feet. 

< 1.307 United States cubic yards. 
1 35.3 United States cubic feet. 


The natives measure and sell rice and paddy by the 
cavan and its fractions. The cavan dry measure is as 
follows, viz: 


4 apatdns 
8 chupas 
25 gantas 
1 ganta. 


1 chupa. 

1 ganta. 

1 cavrin. 

3 liters or 3.1701 United States quarts. 


The equivalents of which in United States measures 


are: 

1 apatdn . 
1 chupa . 
1 ganta . 
1 cavdn . 


. 0.16875 of a pint. 

. 0.675 of a pint. 

. 2 quarts, If pint. 

. 16 gallons, 3 quarts, 1 pint. 


GRAIN AND LIQUID WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


1 cavan.25 gantas — 75 liters. 

1 ganta.8 chupas — 3 liters. 

1 chupa.f liter. 


Although the metrical system has been officially adopted 
in the Philippines, the following weights and measures of 
Spanish origin are more or less in use, viz: 











APPENDIX 


899 


Arroba (dry) — 25 libras — 25.36 pounds. 

Arroba (liquid) — 4.263 gallons. 

Bayon, a woven grass sack of indefinite capacity for 
the transportation of Filipino sugar. 

Fardo, a local weight for tobacco, — 33 Spanish pounds 
— 33.475 United States pounds. 

League — linear measure 2.634 United States miles. 

Libra — weight measure 1.0144 pounds. 

Milla — linear measure, 1,760 yards, or 1,609.3 meters. 

Pie —linear 0.9478 foot. 

Quintal (dry) — 4 arrobas —101.44 pounds. 

Quintal (metric) — 220.46 pounds. 

Ton, weight, — 20 metric quintals. 

Ton (tonelada), space measure, —40 cubic feet. 

Vara, linear measure — 0.914117 yard, or 33.384 inches, 
United States. 

1 hectare, land measure, Spanish, — 2.471 United States 
acres. 

1 quindn, land measure, 100 loanes, —2.79495 acres. 


METEOROLOGICAL TABLE. 


400 


A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 




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APPENDIX 


401 


A CLASSIFICATION OF PHILIPPINE FOREST 
TREES AND WOODS 

Lauan (Dipterocarpus thurifer Blanco) is probably the 
most abundant commercial lumber in the Philippine 
Islands, though not as much used as molave. It grows 
to enormous heights; is light, strong, fibrous, easily 
worked, and does not split. Some of the trees run up 
as high as one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred 
and forty feet before branching, and the logs are breast- 
high. There are two species of lauan, one called lauan 
mulato , which is of a dark red color and is deemed more 
valuable than the white variety. Nevertheless both are 
valuable. Lauan, for its abundance, is commercially the 
pine of the Philippines. It is not as high priced a wood 
as molave. 

Another wood used extensively for construction pur¬ 
poses is the yacal ( Hopea plagata Vidal), belonging also 
to the superior group, and of the same family as the 
molave. The logs come seventy feet long and forty 
inches or more in diameter. Yacal is used extensively 
for beams, joists, pillars, etc. The timber is yellowish. 
In order of tensile strength it ranks second among the 
Philippine woods, being exceeded by the Dungon only; 
it is often called iron wood. Its transverse resistance is 
so great that a beam of it is preferred to other kinds 
double its diameter. 

Batitinan ( Lagerstraemia batitinan Vidal) is the teak 
wood of the Philippines. The logs come forty-five to 
fifty feet in length, quite straight, and twenty inches or 
more in diameter. The lumber looks dark gray, and 
puts one in mind of black oak; it is deemed superior to 

2fi 


402 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the famous teak of India, because it is stronger and more 
elastic, and stands salt water better than almost any 
other wood. This timber is especially plentiful in 
southern Luzon, Negros, and the Visayan Islands. For 
cabinet purposes and furniture many foresters consider 
it preferable to black walnut. The wood belongs to the 
first group. Like practically all the woods mentioned in 
this article, except calentas (Philippine cedar), lauan, 
and guijo, it will not float even when dry. 

Mangachapuy ( Vatica mangachapuy Blanco) is a tree 
of the first order, and makes the best timber for masts 
in the islands. The logs come sixty feet or more in 
length, very straight, and twenty inches in diameter. 
It weighs about sixty-three pounds to the cubic foot; 
water has specific gravity of 62.425. Some of the 
mangachapuy logs will float when dry. 

A tree used for the same purposes as mangachapuy, 
though not as valuable, is the guijo ( Shorea guiso 
Blume). The strong demand for this wood in the 
markets of China, where it is extensively used by car¬ 
riage and cart makers for wheels, and for naval con¬ 
struction, testifies to its great value. It gives logs up 
to seventy-five feet long by twenty-four inches square. 
Following is the mean result of tests made with guijo: 
Elasticity, 0035 m.; broke with weight of 40.7469 kilo¬ 
grams; weight in the air, 9.73 grammes ; specific gravity 
0.685, it being one of the lightest of the woods mentioned. 

An excellent wood is the dao; it is listed but not de¬ 
scribed in the Government forestry book, where the trees 
are listed only according to present demand; it resembles 
a huge sycamore. The writer has seen a dao close to a 
hundred feet high and perhaps eight feet in diameter, 
very symmetrical in appearance. 

A good construction wood is the catmon ( Dillenia 
Philippinensis Bolfe). The logs attain a length of 


APPENDIX 


403 

forty-five or fifty feet, and a diameter of twenty inches. 
The wood is good for any inside construction, as ants do 
not attack it readily. In color the timber is red, and 
when freshly cut looks like a fine beefsteak. It belongs 
to the second group. 

One of the large construction woods is the apiton 
{Dipterocarpus grandiflorus Blanco ). The tree is ex¬ 
ceedingly abundant and makes excellent piles, standing 
salt water splendidly. It reaches a maximum height of 
one hundred and fifty feet, and logs can be secured one 
hundred feet long and breast high. It runs sixty inches 
in diameter, with a very even bole. I knew of an in¬ 
stance where a forester undertook to deliver a large 
quantity of apiton for piles at eighty feet. When it is 
considered that even California redwood piles seldom 
reach this length, the great value of this tree is easily 
seen. At the present time the apiton belongs to the 
third group, though it must be understood that the woods 
are listed only according to present demand, and not 
according to the value they will have when better known 
and more exploited. 

Another large wood is the supa ( Sindora Wallichii 
Benth). Like the apiton, the supa is found near the 
beach in low elevations. It is rarely found more than 
ten miles from the coast, and for this reason it is well 
known commercially. The tree grows to a height of 
from ninety to one hundred feet at maturity, with a 
uniform bole all the way up to fifty feet, where it 
branches. It resembles the white oak of the United 
States. 

The betis ( Azola Betis Blanco) is a tree of the first 
group. It runs from twenty-five to forty feet long and 
twelve to seventeen inches square — special sizes from 
sixty to sixty-five feet long and eighteen to twenty 
inches square. It resists sea-worm, is used in salt and 


404 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


fresh water piling, also for keels, and many other pur- 
poses. 

Dungon (Heritiera sylvatica Vidal). This extraordi¬ 
nary wood is perhaps the last that should be mentioned 
in this chapter as coming under the head of the best 
known and most used construction woods; for in men¬ 
tioning these woods the writer is indicating those which 
would be found in the sawmills of Manila or Hong-Kong. 
Logs come about thirty-six feet long and eighteen inches 
square, with special sizes of fifty feet in length. Dungon 
is called “ ironwood,” and is so hard that a stroke from 
an ordinary broad-blade axe produces hardly more than 
an impression upon its surface. A proof of its hardness 
is the fact that it is used in the manufacture of cog¬ 
wheels, even when the cogs are thin and narrow. Dun¬ 
gon has greater tensile strength than any other wood in 
the Philippines. It is used extensively in building. 
Sometimes, though not usually, the wood has knots 
which weaken its transverse strength, and from which 
exudes a gum which becomes hard and renders it so 
difficult to work that the tools often break. 

Cabinet Wood. Perhaps chief among the cabinet 
woods is the magnificent tindalo (Afzelia Hhomboidea 
Vidal), belonging to the superior group. Tindalo weighs 
from sixty-eight to seventy pounds to the cubic foot. 
Logs generally come about forty feet long and sixty 
inches in diameter. It is superb for the manufacture 
of chairs, tables, panels, and flooring. In describing 
tindalo one cannot do better than quote from the Rev. 
Jose Delgado: — 

“ Among the many magnificent woods found in the forests of 
these islands one of the most useful and precious is that which 
the Tagals call tindalo. It is found on all the islands. The 
trees are very large, straight, and tall. It can be used in almost 
all construction. For some purposes it is superior to molave. 


APPENDIX 


405 


The wood is of a beautiful red color, and in time takes on a 
deeper hue. It is very durable when exposed to the weather. 
For inside construction it forms one of the most valuable jewels 
of the house, where it remains permanently, and impervious to 
decay. It is very much esteemed in Manila, where beautiful 
desks and large tables, which are highly esteemed, are made 
from this wood; also very unique chairs and stools, railings 
and bedsteads, artistically turned. It is even more esteemed in 
China, where they say it sells for its weight in silver, and is 
valued as such. They make from it many curious desks and 
stools and chairs; they also know how to preserve in the wood 
the blood-red color, washing it frequently with salt water. In 
time, if care is not taken, it changes to a dark claret color, but 
is very lustrous. It can be polished to such a degree that one’s 
face can be seen in it as in a mirror.” 

Another cabinet wood, belonging also to the superior 
group, is the narra (.Pterocarpus Indicus Willde), or 
Philippine mahogany. The narra is an immense tree; 
logs from it are got forty feet long and seven feet in 
width, while the roots and branches are also available 
for lumber. Sometimes seven or eight immense logs 
can be got out of one tree. Often the roots extend in 
flanges or buttresses from the bole of the tree, beginning 
at a height of twenty-five or thirty feet from the ground, 
and when they reach the ground the tree has a diameter 
of from forty to fifty feet. The photograph here shown 
was taken by the writer; and the tree is believed to be 
the largest narra which has yet been discovered in the 
Islands. From its enormous roots one could hew a 
table in one solid piece thirty feet long and eighteen 
feet wide. There are two kinds of narra, one golden 
straw-yellow, and the other carnation to blood-red; the 
yellowish variety is the more common, but all are equally 
valued. The wood admits of a fine polish, and is much 
used in cabinet-making. It has somewhat of an open grain. 

Narra is a first-rate wood for general purposes. In 


406 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


the London market it is classed with the Padouk of 
Burmah. It is found in the virgin forests, and is by 
no means scarce. Major Ahern, Chief of the Insular 
Forestry Bureau, states that though an idea is prevalent 
that Philippine mahogany is scarce, it is found in abun¬ 
dance in many places throughout the islands. The heart- 
wood of the narra, even in the whitish varieties, contains 
blood-red streaks running through it; and when the 
wood is cut, it bleeds a blood-red sap. Cups are made 
of narra wood which, when water is poured into them, 
impart a bluish tinge to the water, which is then deemed 
to be good for dropsical diseases. A variety of the 
narra, called narra blanca, though not the proper Phil¬ 
ippine mahogany, is sometimes sold as such. 

A superb cabinet tree is the camagon (Diospyros Dis¬ 
color Willde), which belongs to the ebony family. The 
wood, which is jet black or ashy red, with bright or pale 
yellow streaks, is of a dense texture, fine fibre, and slow 
growth. It is extensively used in making fine furniture 
and objects of art; but while not very rare, it is not 
plentiful. Timbers come twenty feet long and fifteen 
inches in diameter. 

A valuable wood, which, though by no means rare, is 
never found very plentifully in any one locality, is the 
Philippine ebony (.Diospyros Nigra , family Ebenacece ). 
The timbers come about nine feet long and twenty 
inches round. Only the heart of the tree, about one- 
third, is the black ebony of commerce. Two-thirds of 
the tree is sap wood. In the Island of Masbate there 
is a bridge built of solid ebony, the various pieces being 
lashed together with bamboo. The tree prefers rocky or 
sandy ground; once, on stopping on a little island off 
the coast of southern Luzon I counted eight of them 
within half an hour. The wood brings a tremendous 
price in London, Hong-Kong, and Madrid. 


APPENDIX 


407 


A beautiful palm in the Philippines, suitable as a 
cabinet wood, is the palma brava. The logs come a 
foot in diameter and eighty feet long. The wood makes 
fine pillars and takes on a superb polish. It is jet black, 
with bright brown streaks running through it as though 
they had been inlaid. The trunk consists of a light sap- 
wood about one-sixteenth of an inch thick, and a pith in 
the interior. It is very strong, like a steel tube, and 
will carry an immense weight. To chop this wood will 
blunt the strongest instrument. It is quite plentiful in 
the Philippines, and the natives use it a great deal in 
making stakes. 


LAND TITLES. 

Americans intending investing in the Philippines 
should be very careful about their titles. Although 
the laws ensure as stable titles as in any country in the 
world, yet many of the native population have not as 
yet taken advantage of these laws, nor have their titles 
been properly recorded. For this reason, in the absence 
of ordinary precautions, the purchaser may find himself 
involved in expensive litigation. Write the Department 
of Justice, Manila, P. I., and secure full and authoritative 
information. 

The Torrens system of Land Kegistration in the 
Philippine Islands is very similar to the Torrens system 
adopted by several States of the Union. The title is 
absolutely unassailable. A petition is presented by the 
applicant to the Land Court, reciting that he is the 
owner of the land, accompanied by his documentary 
evidence thereof, giving the names of the owners of the 
adjoining property. The latter are cited, as well as all 
persons who may appear to have any interest therein, 
including the Attorney General as representative of the 


408 A HANDBOOK OB THE PHILIPPINES 


Government; and a notice of the application is pub¬ 
lished to all the world. Any person may, within a 
specific period, present his opposition thereto, after 
which the trial proceeds substantially as in other courts. 
It is not incumbent on any one to register under the 
new Act, the old system of titles remaining in full 
force. 


CONDITIONS OF SUFFRAGE IN THE 
PHILIPPINES. 

On July 30, 1907, the people of the Philippines voted 
for the eighty-one members of their first native legisla¬ 
tive body. The assembly is a representative Filipino 
body, there being no American aspirants for political 
honors. It will stand alone as a legislative body, so 
that its success may not be attributed to assistance from 
anybody. 

The Philippine inhabitants will begin their ultimate 
autonomy with a larger measure of suffrage than has 
been achieved by most peoples except after centuries of 
political struggle. The suffrage is necessarily consider¬ 
ably restricted. Besides the provision that the voters 
must be men twenty-three years old, the other require¬ 
ments are that they must know how to read, write, and 
speak English or Spanish; that they own real estate 
valued at 500 pesos a year or pay thirty pesos a year in 
taxes ; that they have not violated the oath of allegiance, 
have not borne arms against the United States since May 
1, 1901, and that they have not failed to pay taxes since 
1898. The necessity of curtailing the voting powers of 
the more ignorant is apparent. The restrictions will 
prove educational in elevating the masses to the plane of 
citizenship. 

This body may be compared in a general way to our 


APPENDIX 


409 


House of Representatives, while the Philippine Commis¬ 
sion will be the upper house or senate, and the acts of 
the assembly must secure the approval of the Commis¬ 
sion in order to become laws. 

On the other hand, the assembly will be able to defeat 
any proposed legislation which does not meet its views. 
The opportunity that will thus be opened to the Fili¬ 
pinos to make known their wants and wishes and to show 
how far they are prepared to take their government into 
their own hands is confidently expected to have good 
results politically and otherwise. 

PHILIPPINE CUSTOMS DUTIES. 

The duties on articles between the Philippine Islands 
and foreign countries are — subject to the Act of the 
Philippine Commission of September 17, 1901 — identi¬ 
cal with those between the United States and foreign 
countries. The duties between the Philippines and the 
United States are — subject to the same enactment — 
seventy-five per cent of those between the Philippines 
and foreign countries. 

On September 17, 1901, the Philippine Commission 
enacted “by the authority of the President of the 
United States, and with the approval of the Secretary 
of War first had,” Act No. 230, of which the following 
is a synopsis: — 

Short Title. — Section 1. The provisions of General 
Order No. 49, Office of the United States military governor in 
the Philippine Islands, dated October 23, 1899, relating to 
customs duties on imports and exports of the Philippine 
Islands, and tonnage duties and wharf charges therein, and the 
several orders supplemental thereto and amendatory thereof, 
are hereby amended as follows : 

Import Duties. — Sec. 2. Duties shall be collected on all 
articles imported into the Philippine Islands at the rates 


410 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


hereinafter provided, except when expressly exempted from 
duty by this act. 

Provisions for Merchandise in Transit. — Sec. 3. 
Merchandise in transit at the time the present revision goes 
into effect may be entered under the provisions of law existing 
at the time of shipment; provided, however, that this privilege 
shall not be extended beyond the period of sixty days after the 
date of the enforcement of the present tariff. 

Export Duties. — Sec. 4. Duties shall be collected at the 
rates hereinafter provided on such articles exported from the 
Philippine Islands as are hereinafter specifically prescribed. 

General Rules. — Sec. 5. Rules to be observed in the 
construction and enforcement of the provisions of this act are 
given in detail. 

Prohibited Importations. — Sec. 6. Explosives, arms, 
etc., except by authority; obscene literature and gambling 
devices. 

Abbreviations. — Sec. 7. The following abbreviations shall 
be employed in the tariff: 

G. W.—gross weight. Kilo. —kilogram. 

N. W. — net weight. Kilos. — kilograms. 

Hectog. — hectogram. Hectol. — hectoliter. 

IIow Payable. — Sec. 8. Duties shall be paid in United 
States money, except that — 

The following coins now in circulation in the Philippine 
Islands shall be received for customs duties and taxes at the 
following rates in money of the United States: Peso, 50 cents ; 
medio peso, 25 cents; peseta, 10 cents; media peseta, 5 cents ; 
but such rates shall be changed in accordance with a quarterly 
proclamation of the Civil Governor. 

Metric System. — Sec. 9. The metric system of weights 
and measures as authorized by Sections 3569 and 3570 of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States, and at present in use in 
the Philippine Islands, shall be continued. 

The meter is equal to 39.37 inches. 

The liter is equal to 1.0567 quarts, wine measure. 

The kilogram is equal to 2.2046 pounds avoirdupois. 


APPENDIX 


411 


Importations from tiie United States. — Sec. 10. Im« 
portations from the United States are dutiable under the 
provisions of this act, but no customs duties shall be imposed 
on articles transported only from one place to another in the 
Philippine Islauds. 

IIatks. — Sec. 11. Duties on articles imported into the 
Philippine Islands shall follow the usual classification in the 
United States schedules. 

Free. — Sec. 12. Free list. 

Export Duties.—Sec. 13. On the following products of 
the Philippine Islands there shall be levied, on the gross weight 
thereof, export duties as follows: 


398. 

Ab&ca, raw or wrought hemp . . . 

100 kilos 10.75 

399. 

Indigo. 

do 

.25 

400. 

Indigo employed for dyeing ( tintarron ) 

do 

.025 

401. 

Rice. 

do 

1.00 

402. 

Sugar . 

do 

.05 

403. 

Cocoanuts, fresh and dried (copra) . 

do 

.10 

404. 

Tobacco, manufactured, of all kinds 
and whatever origin. 

do 

1.50 

405. 

Tobacco, raw, grown in the provinces 
of Cagayan, Isabela, and New Bis¬ 
cay (Luzon Islands). 

do 

1.50 

406. 

Tobacco, raw, grown in the Yisayas 
and Mindanao Island . -. . . . 

do 

1.00 

407. 

Tobacco, raw, grown in other prov¬ 




inces of the archipelago .... 

do 

0.75 


Certificates of origin of raw tobacco 
may be required by the customs 
authorities when proof of the place 
of production is necessary. 

Tonnage. — Sec. 14. Tonnage dues. 

Tonnage. — Sec. 15. Exemption from tonnage dues. 

Wharf Charges. — Sec. 16. Wharf charges on exports. 

Exemptions. — Sec. 17. Exemptions from wharf charges. 

Reimportations. — Secs. 18 and 19. Reimportation of in¬ 
sular products. 








412 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


Repealing. — Sec. 20. Repealing clause. 

Repertory and index. —Sec. 21. Repertory and index. 

Title. — Sec. 22. Title of act “ Tariff Revision Law, of 
1901.” 

In effect. — Sec. 23. Tariff law takes effect November 14, 
1901. 

This tariff enactment of the Insular Commission was 
accepted by an act of Congress approved March 8, 1902. 
It will be noted that the act of the Commission makes 
no substantial changes from the prevailing tariffs of the 
United States other than those required by a recognition 
of Philippine conditions. The Congressional enactment 
merely confirms the enactment of the Commission. Its 
most important provisions are: 

That the provisions of “ An act to revise and amend 
the tariff laws of the Philippine Archipelago,” enacted by 
the United States Philippine Commission, September 17, 
1901, shall remain in full force, and there shall be 
levied, upon all articles imported from the United States, 
the rates of duty which are levied upon like articles 
imported from foreign countries. 

Sec. 2. That there shall be levied upon all articles 
coming into the United States from the Philippine 
Archipelago the rates of duty which are levied upon 
like articles imported from foreign countries : Provided, 
That upon all articles the growth and product of the 
Philippine Archipelago there shall be levied only seventy- 
five per cent of the rates of duty aforesaid: and pro¬ 
vided further, That the said rates of duty shall be less 
any duty or taxes paid thereon upon shipments from the 
Philippine Archipelago, as provided by the act of the 
United States Philippine Commission referred to in 
section one of this act, under such rules and regulations 
as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe j but all 


APPENDIX 


413 


articles, the growth and product of the Philippine 
Islands, admitted into the ports of the United States 
free of duty under the provisions of this act, and coining 
directly from said islands to the United States for use 
and consumption therein, shall be hereafter exempt from 
any export duties imposed in the Philippine Islands. 

Sec. 3. That the same tonnage taxes shall be levied 
upon all foreign vessels coming into the United States 
from the Philippine Archipelago which are upon vessels 
coming into the United States from foreign countries: 
provided, however, That until July 1, 1904, the law 
restricting to vessels of the United States the trans¬ 
portation of passengers and merchandise from one port 
of the United States to another shall not be applicable 
to foreign vessels engaging in trade between the Philip¬ 
pine Archipelago and the United States, or between 
ports in the Philippine Archipelago: and provided 
further, That the Philippine Commission shall be 
authorized to issue licenses to engage in lighterage or 
other harbor business to vessels actually engaged in such 
business at the date of the passage of this act, and to 
vessels built in the Philippine Islands or in the United 
States and owned by citizens of the United States or by 
inhabitants of the Philippine Islands. 

Sec. 4. That the duties and taxes collected in the 
Philippine Archipelago in pursuance of this act, and all 
duties and taxes collected in the United States upon 
articles coming from the Philippine Archipelago and 
upon foreign vessels coming therefrom, shall not be 
paid into the general fund of the Treasury of the United 
States, but shall be held as a separate fund and paid 
into the Treasury of the Philippine Islands, to be used 
and expended for the government and benefit of said 
islands. 


414 A HANDBOOK OF THE PHILIPPINES 


FUTUKE INDEPENDENCE. 

The following from a letter of the Secretary of War 
of the United States, dated March 16, 1905, and shortly 
after that time given to the press of the country, is and 
is considered to be the definite and accepted statement 
of the policy of the American administration regarding 
the present retention and future independence of the 
islands. It will be noticed that immediate independence 
is impracticable : — 

“ The policy of the administration is the indefinite retention 
of the Philippine Islands for the purpose of developing the pros¬ 
perity and the self-governing capacity of the Filipino people. 
The policy rests on the conviction that the people are not now 
capable of self-government, and will not be for a long period of 
time; certainly not for a generation, and probably not for a 
longer time than that, and that until they are ready for self- 
government it would be a violation of trust for the United 
States to abandon the Islands. 

“The question as to the future,however,is one wholly of con¬ 
jecture. The important fact is the present policy, which is that 
of the indefinite retention of the Islands. What shall be done 
in the future when the people have reached a condition where 
they can be safely trusted with their own government is a ques¬ 
tion which will doubtless have to be settled by another genera¬ 
tion than the present, both of the American and of the Philip¬ 
pine people, to whose wisdom and generosity we may safely 
trust the solution of the problem. Should the Philippine people, 
when fit for self-government, demand independence, I should be 
strongly in favor of giving it to them, and I have no doubt that 
the American people of the next generation would be of the 
same opinion. I think it much more likely, however, that after 
the Filipino people shall have been associated with the Ameri¬ 
can people for a generation or more, and shall have tasted the 
prosperity they will find behind the national tariff wall, they 
will prefer a relation to America like that of Canada or Australia 
to England to one of absolute in dependence.’ ’ 























INDEX 


“Abaca,” 204 
Abaca, see hemp 
Accountants’ wages, 180 
Act of July 1, 1902 (Public No. 235), 
105,106, 114, 115, 120, 248 
Act of June, 1901, 110 
Acts of Congress relating to Philip¬ 
pines, 120 

Acts of Philippine Commission, 120, 
121 

“Address by Hon.W. H. Taft,” 228 
Agave (hemp), 204 
Age at which Filipinos marry, 60, 97 
Aglipay, a branch from Catholic 
Church, 324 

Agricultural bank, 26, 238 
Agricultural course offered in school, 
80 

Agricultural experiment farms, 174 
Agricultural implements, 175, 214- 
216, 328, 341 

Agricultural products, 158-160 
Agricultural Relief Bill, passed by 
Congress, 117 

Agriculture, 157-175, 206, 353 
Agriculturist class, 98, 99, 174, 282, 
302 

Agriculturists, rate of interest to, 26 
Agriculturists to be benefited by rail¬ 
roads, 16, 23 

Aguinaldo, Gen. Emilio, 148, 149, 
155, 156 

Agusan River, 7 
Ahern, George P., 134 
Albay, 21 

Alb iy Province, 21, 186, 193, 197 
Albay (Mayon) Volcano, 5 
Alden, Wm. A., Company, of Boston, 
167 

Alligator pear, 158 
Almaciga, a varnish, 134 
Alphabet, Filipino, 138 


Ambos Camarines Province, 21, 193, 
197, 348 

Ambos Camarines Province, Governor 
of, quoted, 301 

American army in Philippines, 34,35, 
81, 297 

“American Cruiser in the Far East. 
Travels in the Philippine Islands,” 
69 

American goods in competition with 
European, 329-340 
American goods in Philippines, 328 
American goods, market for, 20, 21 
American influences, 94 
American intervention in Philippine 
affairs, 104-106 

American machinery, 130, 131, 162, 
163, 213, 214, 216, 234, 250, 259, 
262, 326-328, 352 

American occupation, 3,104-106,135, 
148, 149, i55, 156, 179, 251, 307- 
311, 317, 318 

American occupation compared to 
various colonial governments, 71 
Americans in the Philippines, 15,16, 
29-36, 38, 189, 194,195, 202-204, 
213-215, 244, 289, 290, 307-311 
Americans misjudge Filipinos, 100, 
101 

Amoretti,-, of Madrid, 156 

Ancestor-worship, 138 
Anderson, George P., 81 
Animals, domestic, 12 
Animals, predatory, 12 
Antimony, 185 
Antipolo, 23 
Aparri, 19, 218 
Apo Volcano, 5 
Arab missionaries, 137 
Araullo, Judge Manuel, 294 
“Archivo del Bibliofilo Filipino,” 
156, 295 


27 



418 


INDEX 


Arellano, Chief Justice Cayetano, 
294 

Aretana, Attorney-General Gregorio, 
294 

Argus River, Mindanao, 253, 254 
Arrowroot, 159 

Artistic tastes of Filipinos, 294 
Asphalt, 185 

Assembly, Filipino, 115, 283 
Attorneys, American and Filipino, 
111, 283,294,295 


Bacalot, 19 

Baguio, Benguet Province, 22, 27, 
272, 276 

Baguios, or high winds, 10 

Baiutaca River, 350 

Bananas, 158, 159, 190 

Banaue, Luzon, 81 

Bandholtz, Col. H. H., 114 

Bandits, 287, 318 

Banks, 26, 34 

Baptism of infants, 57 

Baptist Church in Philippines, 324 

Barangay , native boats, 218 

Barbed wire, 216 

Barrows, Dr. David P., quoted, 41, 
86, 89, 156, 325, 353-355 
Basilan Island, 169 
Bat an, 20 

Batan Island, 184, 186 
Batanes group of islands, 173 
Batangas, 22 

Batangas Province, 22,160,163, 164 
Bathing, 62, 303 
Beer, 181, 328 

Beet sugar, cost of producing, in 
United States, 235 
Benguet, Luzon, 186 
Benguet (Luzon) coffee, 163, 164 
Benguet mountain road, 22, 272, 276 
Bicol Filipinos, 347, 348 
Bilibid prison, 282, 356 
Birds, species of, 11 
Births made much of, 57, 61 
Blacksmiths’ wages, 357 
Bliimentritt, Ferdinand, 69 
Bogobo tribe, 350 


Bohol, area, 5 
Boiler-makers’ wages, 357 
Bombay hemp, 19 
“ Bontoc Igorot, The,” 55 
Bontoc Province, 186 
Boots and shoes imported from United 
States, 328 

Bournes, Frank S., 55 
Bowring, Sir John, 69 
Bow-string hemp, 191 
Boys’ Agricultural Institute, Tugue- 
garao, Luzon, 80 
Bravery of Filipino troops, 97 
Brewing industry, 181, 328 
Brick-masons’ wages, 180 
British rule in India compared to 
American occupation of Philip¬ 
pines, 71 

Broom and brush factory, 165 
Broom corn, 158, 165 
Bulletins, Government, 87, 134, 175, 
176, 204, 250 

Burbank, Luther, pupil of, experi¬ 
ments with oranges, 159 
Burchfield, Captain J. L., 202 
Bureau of Agriculture, Philippine, 
198, 204 

Bureau of Government Laboratories, 
133 

Burnham, D. H., 267 
Burritt, Lieut. Charles H., 188 
Buyo, a species of pepper, 170 
By-products, utilization of, 258 


Cabanatuan, 23 
Cabinet-makers’ wages, 180 
Cablegrams, cost of, 333 
“ Cable News, The,” 35 
Cacao culture, 164, 165 
“Cacao: A Treatise on the Cultiva¬ 
tion and Curing of Cacao,'” 176 
Caciquism, 107 
Cacle lines, 27 
“Cafe, Le,” 176 

Cagayan Province, 186, 213, 220,221, 
225 

Cagayan Province, Governor of, 
quoted, 225 



INDEX 


419 


Cagayan River, 7, 215, 218-220, 222, 

223, 226 

Cagayan Valley, 19, 23, 66, 122,132, 
144, 208, 212, 213, 215, 217-222, 

224, 228, 243, 356, 358 
Calamba, Laguna Province, 272, 291 
Calasiao, Pangasinan Province, 175 
Calcutta hemp, 191 

Calentas , Philippine cedar, 124 
Camarines Sur Province, Luzon, 186 
Camote , a species of sweet potato, 
158 

Camp One, 22, 272 
Candles, 260 

Capital, Filipino native, 239 
Capital for transportation develop¬ 
ments, 254 
Capital, need for, 340 
Capiz, 20 

Caraballo Mountains, 358 
Caraballo Pass, 277 
Carabao, 11, 12, 172, 173, 276, 279 
Carpenters’ wages, 357 
Carpets, 262 
Carretas, 329 

Cnrromatos , native vehicles, 264, 
268, 329 

Cash payment for labor, 339, 351 
Cassava, 159 

“Catalogo Abreviado de la Biblio- 
teca Filipina,” 47, 295 
Catalogues for Filipino trade, 332- 
335 

Catholic Church, power of, 73, 150, 
153, 265, 302, 313-324 
Catholic population, 8, 44, 45 
Catholic religion taught by the Span¬ 
ish, 91 

Catipad , a young man serving for 
his bride, 61 
Cattle, 172, 276 
Cattle food, dearth of, 258 
Cavite, 154, 180, 319 
Cavite Province, 22 
Cebu, 25, 233, 243, 273 
Cebd Island, 4, 12, 16-18, 20, 124, 
186, 232 

Cebu Province, Governor of, quoted, 

302 


Cedar timber, 124 
Cement, 260 
Census, 157 

“Census of the Philippines,” 41, 60, 
102, 180, 188, 205, 228, 269, 325 
Character of Filipinos, general esti¬ 
mate of, 100-102, 300-302 
“ Characteristics of Christian Tribes,” 
102 

Chico de Itaves River, 223 
Children, 75, 92, 100 
China, formerly the mainland, 1,11 
Chinelas, a kind of slipper, 59 
Chinese Exclusion Act applied to 
Philippines, 43 

Chinese market for Philippine cigars, 
217 

Chinese merchants, 219 
Chinese Mestizos, 43 
Chinese pirates, 145 
Chinese population, 43 
Chinese the traders, 68 
Chirino, Padre Pedro, 156 
Chocolate, see Cacao culture 
Cholera, 28 

Churches, 91, 265, 266, 323 
“Churchill’s Voyages,” 295 
Christening ceremony, 57 
Christian population, 8 
Christianit} 1 , its influence over the 
destiny of the Philippines, 288, 
296, 297, 306, 313-316, 319-322, 
356 

Chronology of Philippine history, 
146-149 

Cigarettes, 180, 206, 227-229, 356 
Cigars, 180, 206, 227-229, 356 
Cigarmakers, 206, 227 
Cinnamon, 158 
Civil Commission, 324 
Civil service, 119 

Civilization at arrival of Spaniards, 
138-140 

Civilized tribes, 45 
Cleanliness of Filipinos, 62 
Clerical positions overcrowded, 353, 
359 

Climate, general, 9, 10; of Manila, 
268-271 



420 


INDEX 


Clothing, 62-64, 278, 279, 330, 341 
Cloth-making, 178, 179 
Coal, 184-186, 261 
Coal lands, 118 

“Coal Measures of the Philippines,” 
188 

Coast and Geodetic Survey, 25 
Cock-fighting, 96 
Cockatoos, 219 

Cocoanut palm, see Coco-palm 
Cocoanuts and cocoanut trees, 22, 
160, 189, 202, 220, 258 
Cocoanut, treatment by machinery, 
187 

Coco-palm, 160 
Codes, cable, 333 
Coffee-culture, 163,164 
“ Coffee, its Cultivation and Com¬ 
merce in all Countries,” 176 
“Coffee Planting in Southern India 
and Ceylon,” 176 
Cogon, or wild grass, 215 
Colony settlements, 358 
Commerce between United States 
and Philippines, 2, 3 
Commerce of Philippines, 327 
Commercial bond between Philip¬ 
pines and United States, 251, 252, 
289, 290 

Commercial field offered by Philip¬ 
pines, 326-341 
Common-law marriages, 299 
Compania General de Tabacos de 
Filipinas, 211 
Company stores, 358 
Compostela mines, Cebu Island, 186 
Compulsory labor, 209 
Condensed milk for export, 330, 341 
Confectionery, 330, 331 
Congregational Church in Philip¬ 
pines, 324 

Congress of the Philippines, 115 
Conservatism of wealthy Filipinos, 
309 

Conservatism, traditional Oriental, 
252 

Constabulary Band, 90 
Constabulary, Insular, 97, 111-114, 
123, 274 


Convents of Manila, 260 
Cook, Frank C., 349, 350 
Cooperative plantations, 224 
Copper, 185, 186 

Copra, dried meat of cocoanut, 158- 
160, 177, 187, 189, 327 
Cordage industry, 21 
Corn, 158, 219 

Corporations and the public domain, 
117-121, 197, 249 
Cotabato, Mindanao, 134, 167 
Cotabato Valley, Mindanao, 244 
Cotton, 158, 159, 219, 261, 328-330 
Courts, Spanish, 109, 110, 151 
Courts, Spanish the language of the, 
333 

Courts under Insular Government, 
110, 225, 239, 355 
Credulity of natives, 162, 302 
Crimes, 92, 93 

Cross-bill bird, of Benguet region, 11 
Cuba, area compared with Mindanao 
and Luzon, 4 
Cuban sugar lands, 236 
Customs service, Philippine, 337 
Cutlery, Spanish rule against, 65 


Daet, Luzon, 254 
Dagupan, 19, 22, 271 
“ Daily Commercial Bulletin, The,” 
35 

Dajo Crater, Sulu Island, battle of, 
155, 318 

Dalupaon, Luzon, 132, 347 

Dampier, -, writing of hemp in 

1686,191 
Dancing, 58, 59 
Dapitan, Mindanao, 292 
Davao, Mindanao, 195, 202, 350 
Davis, General, 312 
Death, how accepted, 69, 99 
Death rates, comparative, of United 
States and Philippines, 271 
De Baranda, Isadro Sainz, 188 
De Comyn, Tomas, 179, 188 
Deer, 11, 275, 279 
De la Concepcion, Juan, 156 
Delgado, Padre Jos£, 134 



INDEX 


421 


Del Rosario, Senor Tomas G., 73, 74 
De Morga, Antonio, 156, 181, 188 
Department of Fomento, Mexico 
City, 204 

De Tavera, Dr. T. H. Pardo, 53,138, 
154, 156,188 

De Villaverde, Padre Juan, 315 
Dewey’s victory, 135, 148,155 
De Zuniga, Martinez, 156, 325 
Dialects, 8, 40, 44, 47, 54, 300 
Dignity of Filipinos, 97 
Disciples' Church in Philippines, 324 
Domestic science work in the schools, 
80 

Dorsey, Clarence W., 228 
Dress of Filipina, 62, 63; of Filipino, 
64; of the children, 92 
Drugs and chemicals, 262, 328 
Dutch traders, 330 
Duties, 116, 231, 235, 337 
Dyes, 202 

Earthquakes, 5, 6,147 
Echague, 7, 218 

Education, 70-86, 310, 311, 353, 354 
“ Education in the Philippines during 
Spanish Domination,” 86 
Edwards, H. T., 190, 204 
Egyptian corn, 158 
Egyptian cotton, 159 
Elective franchise, 283-285 
Electrical machinery imported by 
Philippines, 328 

Electrical power, 253, 254, 260, 261 
Electric-light plants, 260, 261 
Embroideries, 261 

“Engineering and Mining Journal, 
The,” 185,188 
Engineers’ wages, 357 
Engines, stationary, imported by 
Philippines, 328 
England, exports to, 327 
English financing of Luzon lines, 24 
English language, how Filipino chil¬ 
dren acquire, 76, 86 
Entertainment of travellers, 274, 304- 
306 

Episcopal Church in Philippines, 
324, 325 


Escalente, 19 

Etas, wild tribe of Mindanao, 53 
European goods, competing with 
American, 329-340 
Evangelical Union, 325 
Expenses of peasant’s home, 301 
Exports, 157; of hemp, 192; of 
tobacco, 217 

Fabi, Angel, 94 

Fabrics of native manufacture, 178 
Fabrics suitable for Filipino manu¬ 
facture, 261 
Families, size of, 62 
Family life, 95, 97, 100, 302 
Fanaticism of natives, 99 
“Far Eastern Review, The,” 35, 
175 

Farm hands’ wages, 357 
Fauna and flora, variety of, 10, 11 
Featherman, A., 55, 102 
Fertilization of land, 221, 222, 241, 
258, 262 

Fibre plants, 158,159 

Fibre products, manufacture of, 182 

Figs, 158 

Figures of the women, 64 
“Filibusterismo, El” (Dr. Rizal), 
292 

Filipino students in American 
schools, 79 

Filipinos a homogeneous people, 44 
Filipinos as wire operators, 27 
Filipinos hard masters, 303 
Financial standing of Filipinos, 302 
Fingers used in eating, 66 
Fire-extinguishers for export, 330 
Fires for cooking, 66 
Firewood, 258 

Fish and fishing industry, 12, 173, 
174, 353 

Fisk, Amos K., 295 

Floods in Cagayan Valley, 220-222 

Flora and fauna, variety of, 10,11 

Food, 61, 66, 67, 301 

Food-stuffs, 341 

Forage grasses, 159, 276,278 

Ford, John D., 69 



422 


INDEX 


Foreign influences in Philippines, 
347 

Foreman, John, quoted, 69, 76, 88, 
99, 102, 206, 207, 211, 224, 228, 340 
Forest fires impossible, 132 
Forests, 12, 19, 21,122-134, 174, 258 
“Forests of the Philippines, The,” 
134 

Forestry Bureau, 12, 117, 124, 134, 
169, 258 

Fort Santiago, 144, 266 
Foundry-workers, 359 
Fowls, 12 

Francisco, Yicente, 294 
Free trade with the Philippines, 116, 
217, 229 

Freight time and rates to United 
States, 335 
Friar lands, 249 

Friars, 73, 91, 99, 150, 151, 285, 298, 
313-315, 319-323 
Fruits, 158, 172, 262 
Funds at disposal of Insular Govern¬ 
ment, 117 

Furnishings, interior, 258 
Furniture-making, 257, 262 

Gambling, 96 
Gas, 185 

Gattaran, 223, 226 

“ General History of the Philip¬ 
pines,” 156 

General Philippine Tobacco Com¬ 
pany, 211-213 

Gente baja, or subordinate class, 89 
Gente ilustrada , or cultivated class, 
89, 90 

Gente ilustrisima, 289 
German tobacco-growers, 213, 216 
Glass and glassware, 261, 328 
Goats, 172 
Godparents, 57 
Gold-mining, 186, 187 
Gonzaga, Hon. G., quoted, 225 
Government before advent of Span¬ 
iards, 103, 140 

Government-built hotel, Manila, 264 
Government contracts to steamship 
companies, 25, 26 


Government crop experiments, 159, 
164 

Government experiment stations, 168, 
174 

Government lands, concerning the 
taking up of, 117-121 
Government treatment of animal 
plague, 173 
Granite, 185 

Gregarious habits of Filipinos, 161 
Grouping of Philippine woods, 127, 
128 

“Growing Sugar Cane in Hawaii,” 
250 

Guavas, 159, 220 

Gutta percha, 133, 134,166-168 

Hacienda Calabbacao, 215 
Hacienda San Antonio, 208, 212 
Harbor improvements, 8, 13, 15, 24, 
25 

Harbors, 8, 13, 15, 17,19, 20, 22, 24, 
25 

Hardwoods, 12, 19, 21, 122-132, 257 
Hart, J. H., 176 
Harvard College library, 156 
Hats and caps, 261 
Hats, Manila, 64, 182, 338, 339 
Hawaiian sugar lands, 236, 237 
“Head-hunters,” school among, 81 
“Head-hunters,” see Igorrotes 
Health and hygiene, measures to 
assure, 28, 37, 61, 120, 271 
“Hearings before Senate Com¬ 
mittee,” 229 

“Hearings before the Committee on 
Ways and Means, Fifty-ninth 
Congress, First .Session,” 229 
Heidelbach, Ickelheimer and Com¬ 
pany, 17 

Hemp, 21, 158-160, 169, 183, 189- 
265, 223, 231, 258, 327, 359 
Henequin (hemp), 204 
Hindu influences on Malays, 46, 47, 
137-139 

“Historia de las Islas Philipiras,” 
156 

“ Historia General de Philipinas,” 
156 




INDEX 


“ History of China,” 156 
History of Philippines, 135-156 
“ History of the Philippines, A ” 
(Barrows), 156 
Home life, 300 

Home rule iu the Philippines, 115, 
311 

Home-spun cloths, 63 
Honesty, 162 
Horses” 11, 12, 172, 276 
Hospitality of Filipinos, 88, 89, 96, 
100, 303-306 
Hotels, Manila, 261, 271 
House servants, 38 
Houses, native, 6, 61, 65, 138, 303 
Hull, E. C. P., 176 
Humboldt, A. von, quoted, 46, 156 
Hunting, 279 

Ibilao tribe, 52 
Ice-making plants, 260 
Ide, Henry C., 110, 111 
Igorrotes, 47-54, 59, 63, 66, 81, 98, 
137, 115, 161 
Ilagan, 223 
Ilagan Bay, 253, 254 
Ilicos Sur, 354 
Iligan, Mindanao, 203 
llocanos, of Luzon, 98, 138,171, 303, 
358 

Iloilo, 19, 20, 25, 233, 243, 273, 354 
Ilongotes tribe, 53 
Ilustrados, 288, 289 
Jlustnsimo , or ruling class, 71 
Imitation, a racial trait, 95 
Immigrant farmers among natives, 
352 

Importers in Philippines, 332-334, 
339, 340 

Independence for Philippines, discus¬ 
sion of, 308-311 

“ India Rubber World, The,” 176 
Indigo, 158, 171, 177, 183 
Indolence, 98 
Indonesians, 41, 42 
Industrial training, 51, 77, 80, 353, 
354 

Industry of natives, 98, 99, 161, 302 
Infant mortality, 28, 29, 61, 65 


423 

“Inhabitants of the Philippines, 
The,” 102 

Inquisitiveness concerning strangers, 
68 ' 

Insular Government, 16, 27, 81, 110, 
115, 255, 256 

Interest rate to farmers, 26, 238, 
239 

Interior, travel through, 218, 219, 
274-279, 303-306 

Inter-island steamers, 26, 213,255, 273 
Internal revenue, 117, 119, 206 
International Banking Corporation, 
17, 34 

Iron and steel, structural, imported 
by Philippines, 328 
Iron-moulders’ wages, 180 
Isabela Province, 213, 220, 221 
Islands, number of, 1 

Jagor, J., 55, 87 

Japan, distance from Philippines, 3; 

fertility of soil, 157 
Japanese, Filipinos, dislike for, and 
the cause, 43 

Japanese Government rubber culture, 
167 

Japanese in Philippines, 359 
Japanese market for Philippine cigars, 
217 

Japanese terraces, 49, 50 
Japanese type, Filipinos approach the, 
43 

Java coffee crop, 163, 164 
Java, Hindu ruins in, 47, 136,137 
Java, sugar-raising, 215, 216 
Javanese rice-terraces, 49 
Javanese rubber cultivation, 168 
Jenks, Albert Ernest, 55 
Jernegan, Prescott F., quoted, 83 
Jewelry, 59, 261, 311 
Jolo, 318 

Judiciary of the Philippines, 110 
Jungle fowl, 11 
Jungles, 276, 277 

Juramentado among Moros, 318, 319 
Jusi, hemp fabric, 63 
Justice administered by Philippine 
Commission, 109 



424 


INDEX 


Kaffir corn, 158, 165 
“Kansas of the Philippines,” 175 
Kalin, 185 

Ker and Company, 233 

Killebrew,-(“Tobacco Leaf”), 

228 

Kindergartens, 80 

Knives and forks, Spanish rule 
against, 65 
“ Kosrnos,” 156 

Laborers’ wages, 357 
Lace, 261 

La Compte, Henri, 176 
Laguna de Bay, 268, 272 
Laguna Province, 22 
Lake Lanao, Mindanao Island, 163, 
253, 254 

Lala, Ramon Reves, quoted, 55, 100 

Land laws, 117-119 

Land tax, 117 

Land titles, 119 

Landor, Henry Savage, 102 

Laoag, 19, 22, 175 

Lauan , red, 19 

Laundrying, 62 

Lauret, A., 176 

Law and morality among wild tribes, 
52 

Lead, 185, 186 
Legal profession, 294, 295 
Legaspi, Miguel Lopez de, 142-146, 
312, 313, 316 

Legaspi-Urdaneta Monument, Ma¬ 
nila, 312 

Lepers in Philippines, 320 
LeRov, James A., 121 
“Leslie’s Weekly,” quoted, 317-319 
“Lessons on Familiar Philippine 
Animals,” 87 
Leyte Island, 4, 186, 193 
“ Liberal, El ” (Madrid), quoted, 209 
Libraries of Manila, 266 
Light-house9, 25 

Limitations placed upon Filipinos by 
Spanish, 65. 74, 91, 177 
Liquor, 111, 181, 303 
Literacy, 91,282 
Literary tastes of Filipinos, 293 


Livery rates, Manila, 264 
Live-stock industry, 172, 173 
Living comforts and expenses in the 
provinces, 38 

Loans on agricultural lands and prod¬ 
ucts, 26 

Local autonomy granted by Govern¬ 
ment, 283, 284 
Lock, C. G. W., 176 
Loney and Company, 233, 235 
Loney, Nicholas, 233 
Los Banos, Laguna Province, 6, 263, 
319 

Lucena, 22 

Lumbering industry, 128-132, 182 
Luneta, Manila, 268, 312 
Luthu , a native tuber, 220 
Luzon Island, 4, 16-19, 21, 22, 48, 
163, 167, 171, 175, 183, 186, 193, 
199, 208, 217, 218, 221, 224, 225, 
232, 233, 254, 272, 274-279, 358 
Lyon, William S., 231, 247, 250 

Machinists, native, needed, 353, 
359; wages, 357 
Magat River, 218 
Magat Valley, 9 

Magellan’s discovery of the archi¬ 
pelago, 2, 135, 140, 141, 146, 178 
Maguey, 169, 170, 192, 204; see 
Hemp 

Mail-order businesses, 339 
Mail service, 26 

Mails to United States, 335, 336 
Maize as a substitute for rice, 66 
Malabon, Rizal Province, 183, 240, 
256 

Malay origin of Filipinos, 41, 136, 
137, 282, 306 

Malay population, 8, 51, 54; divided 
into religious groups, 44 

Mallet,-, quoted, 71, 72 

Mangoes, 158, 159 
Manihot plant, 166 
Manila, 2-4, 13, 22, 24, 35-37, 46, 
132, 143, 146, 147, 149, 153, 178- 
183, 193, 206, 227, 236, 250, 256, 
257, 263-274, 304, 312, 316, 319, 
332, 354 



INDEX 


“Manila American, The,” 35 
Manila and Dagupan Railroad, 17, 
18, 22, 23, 148, 271 
Manila Bay, 8, 24, 25, 46 
“Manila Daily Bulletin,” 252 
“ Manila Daily Commercial Bulle¬ 
tin, The,” 175, 270,296 
Manila hats, 64, 182, 338, 339 
Manila hemp, 169; see Hemp 
Manila Railroad Company, 17, 18, 
27, 272 

“Manila Times, The,” 35 
Manufactures, 177-187, 255-262 
Marble, 185, 260 
Marche, Alfred, 86 
Marinduque Island, 186, 193 
Mariveles Mts., seen from Manila, 268 
Mariveles, on Manila Bay, 185 
Market for American goods, 326-341 
Market-places, 51, 52, 67 
Marriage customs, 60, 298, 299, 303 
Martyrdom of Filipino missionaries 
in Japan,320 
Masbate Island, 5, 187 
Masbate Island, Governor of, quoted, 
301 

Mavor, John, of London, 156 
May on, or Albay, Volcano, 5 
McClellan, A. C., 203 
McKasky, H. D., 188 
Mechanical arts, Filipinos adapted 
for, 51 

“Mediterranean sweets,” introduc¬ 
tion of, 160 

Mendoza (“History of China ”), 156 
Mercantile establishments in Manila, 
37 

Mercury, 185 

Mestizos, or half-bloods, 42 

Methodist Church in Philippines, 324 

Mexican dollar retired, 119 

Meyen, F. J. F., 156 

Midday rest, 357 

Miller, O. C., 55 

Millet, 159 

“ Mindanao Daily Herald, The,” 35 
Mindanao Island, 4, 35, 41, 42, 51- 
53, 167,193,195, 202, 274, 275, 314, 
315, 318, 350 


425 

Mindoro Island, 5, 124,167,169,186, 
193 

Mineral claims, 118 
Mineral springs, 6 

“ Mines and Minerals in the Philip¬ 
pines ” (“ The Engineering and 
Mining Journal ”), 188 
Mining, 185 
Mining companies, 36 
Missionaries to Japan, 319, 320 
Mission of Filipinos in the Orient, 
306; to themselves, 306 
Mission of United States in Philip¬ 
pines, 85, 307 

Models constructed by school-chil¬ 
dren, 77 

Mohammedanism, 45-47, 137, 139, 
156, 316-319 

Mohammedan Malays, see Moros 
Molave timber, 126, 127 
Monetary system, 119, 207 
Money, among Moros, 52 
Money-lenders, 238, 239 
Money-order department of mail 
service, 26 
Monkeys, 219 

Morality and law among wild tribes, 
52 

Moros, 44-47, 51-54, 106, 139, 145, 
155, 156, 244, 297, 314, 316-319, 
352, 356 

Mountains, 5, 276, 277 
Mourning, period of, 69 
Musa paradisiaca (plantain), 190 
Musa sapierUum (common banana), 
190 

Musa textilis (hemp), 189 
Music, 56, 57, 72, 90, 95 
Musicians’ pay, 180 
Myrick,-(“Tobacco Leaf ”), 228 

Nails imported by Philippines, 328 
Narra (mahogany), 20, 128 
National Association of Manufac¬ 
turers, 223 

Native priests, 322, 324 
Negrito, treatise on the, 55 
Negritos, or aboriginal dwarf blacks, 
41, 42, 53, 59, 136,137 



426 


INDEX 


Negros Island, 4, 18-20, 125, 128, 
132, 183, 186, 193, 232, 237, 244 
Negros Occidental Province, Gover¬ 
nor of, quoted, 302 
Negros Oriental Province, 162 
Negros Oriental Province, Governor 
of, quoted, 301 
Newspapers, 35, 36,147 
Nicholls, H. A., 176 
Nicotiana tabacum, 206 
Night work of farmers, 65, 175 
Nitre, 185 

“Nolime Tangere” (Dr. Rizal), 292 
Nozaleda, Bishop, 297 
Nueva Caceres, 21, 193, 319 
Nueva Ecija Province, 23, 186 
Nueva Viscaya Province, 49 
Nueva Viscaya Province, salt mine 
in, 67 

Nutmegs, 158 

Oarsmen, native, 349 
Occupations filled by Filipinos, 343 
“Official Handbook of the Philip¬ 
pines,” quoted, 221 
Old age held in veneration, 95,100 
Oranges, 158, 160, 220 
Orchids, 277 

Oriente Hotel, Manila, 123 
Orr, John, 128, 347-349 
Orres, Sefior, manager San Antonio 
hacienda, 212 

Osaka Iron Works, Japan, 359 
“Our Philippine Problem,” 121 
Outfit for travelling, 278, 279 
Owners, not renters, on farms, 163 
Oxen, 278 

Pacific Coast, distance from Man¬ 
ila, 3 

Packard, Robert L., 86 
Packing goods for Filipino trade, 
330, 336-338 
Pack trains, cost of, 274 
Paco Cemetery, Manila, 69 
Paddies, rice-terrace, 49 
Padres, their teaching concerning 
truthfulness, 94 
Palawan Bland, area, 4 


Pampanga Province, Luzon, 183 
Pampangas tribe, 138 
Panaqui in Tarlac, 175 
Panay (Visavan group), area, 4; 

railroads, 16-18, 20 
Panay River, 7 
Pangasinans tribe, 138 
Panuelo , neck-cloth worn by the 
women, 63 

Paper and paper products, 262, 328 
Paragua, see Palawan 
Parsons, William Edward, 267 
Pasacao, Luzon, 21, 22, 193 
Pasig, 354 

Pasig River, 265, 268 
Paterno, Pedro, 149 
Patriotism, 75, 76, 103, 280, 281 
Patriots, honor to memory of, 291 
Pauperism, 93 
Peanuts, 158, 159, 219 
“ Pearls of the Orient, The,” 102 
Penur&usness of women, 298 
Peonage, 106, 208,224, 239, 355 
“ Peopling of the Philippines, The,” 
102 

Pepper, 158,170 
Peseta , 358 
Peso , 356 
Petroleum, 185 

Philippine Commission, 27, 108, 109, 
115, 119, 149, 221, 272, 289 
Philippine Company, see Royal 
Philippine Company. 

“Philippine Forests,” 134 
“Philippine Geology,” 188 
Philippine Islands, location, 1; area, 
1; comparative area, 2; on main 
route of Pacific Ocean travel, 2; 
distance from Pacific ports, 4; 
population, 8 

“Philippine Islands, The” (A. H. 
Clark Co.), 156 

“Philippine Islands, The” (De 
Morga), 188 

“ Philippine Islands, The ” (Fore¬ 
man), 69, 88,102, 228 
“ Philippine Islands, The ” (Lala), 55 
“ Philippine Islands, The ” (Legaspi), 
325 



INDEX 


427 


“Philippine Islands and their Peo¬ 
ple, The,” 55 

Philippine Organic Act, see Act of 
July 1, 1902 

Philippine Railway Company, 17, 20 
“ Philippines and Roundabout, The,” 
188 

“ Philippines and the Filipinos, 
The,” 121 

“ Philippines and their People, The,” 
156 

Picul, 212 
Pigeons, 12 
Pila, 319 

Pimontel, Gov. Juan, quoted, 82,301 
Pina, pineapple leaf fabric, 63 
Pineapples, 158 
Pine forests, 124, 277 
Pipes and fittings imported by Phil¬ 
ippines, 328 
Pita hemp, 191 

Plague, among animals, 12, 120, 173 
Plantain, 190 
Platinum, 185 
Polillo Island, 184 

Political indifference of agricultural 
class, 98 

Polygamy among Moros, 53, 54 
Pony-racing, 173 

Population, 8,41, 42,45,151,152,218, 
314 

Postage between United States and 
Philippines, 336 
Postal savings banks, 26 
Post-offices, 26 
Potatoes, 158, 165, 219 
Potterv imports and raw materials, 
261,' 328 

Poverty of peasants, 302 
Predatory animals, 12 
Presbyterian Church in Philippines, 
324' 

Presidents, or mayors of municipal¬ 
ities, 283, 285, 289, 303 
Press, American, in Manila, 35, 36 
Press, native, 35 
“ Primer Yiaje,” 156 
Print goods, 261. 328 
Private lands, 248 


“Pronouncing Gazetteer and Geo¬ 
graphical Dictionary of the Phil¬ 
ippine Islands,” 14, 221, 228 
Prosperity, 205, 286, 287, 289, 307, 
308 

Protestantism, 324, 325 
Provincial governors, 289 
“ Psychologisches in der Philippine- 
Frage,” 69 

Public lands, 117-121, 197, 236, 248, 
249 

Pumps and pumping machinery im¬ 
ported by Philippines, 328 
Pygmies, 42, 136 

Quarantine of live-stock, 12, 120, 
173, 216 

Quarrying industry, 185 

Querol,-, Spanish sculptor, 312 

Quicksilver, 185 

Rainfall, 10 

Railroads, 15-24, 192, 193, 244, 254 
Redwood timber, 126 
Refineries, sugar, 231, 232, 236, 240, 
256 

“ Reisen in den Philippines,” 55, 87 
“Relacion de las Islas Filipinos,” 
156 

Religion, 8, 44, 47, 56, 91, 138, 150, 
300, 322-324 

Religious orders, 322, 323 
Repartimiento system of land grants, 
151 

Report of Commission of Education 
of United States for 1897-1898, 87 
Reports of Philippine Government 
Bureaus, 121 

Reports of the Philippine Commis¬ 
sion, 14, 39, 85, 223 
Retana, Spanish author, 47, 295 
Revenues under Spanish rule, 152 
Rice, 158, 159, 166, 260 
Rice, manner of cooking, 66 
Rice-terraces, Igorrote, 48-51, 98. 
Rinderpest, Government treatment 
of, 120, 173 

Rio Cagayan, see Cagayan River 
Rio Grande de Mindanao, 6, 7 



423 


INDEX 


Rio Malarias Valley, 186 
Rivers, 6, 218, 253*276 
Rizal, Dr., 148, 154, 155, 291-293 
Rizal Province, Luzon, 186 
Road-building, 27, 315 
Rockmen’s wages, 357 
Rojas, Judge Felix M., 294 
Romblon Island, 173 
Roosevelt, President, quoted, 351 
Rope-making, 183, 190, 191, 256, 257, 
261 

Roval Philippine Company, 153, 178 
Rubber, 132-134, 166-169 
“Rubber and Gutta Percha in the 
Philippines,” 134 
Rubber trees, 159,167, 168 
Rubber vines, 132, 133, 159, 167 
Russell, Sturgis, and Company, of 
Boston, 233, 235 


St. Louis World’s Fair, Constabu¬ 
lary Baud at, 91; forestry exhibit, 
125; wood carvings, 294 
St. Mary’s and St. John’s Cathedral 
(Episcopal), Manila, 325 
Saddlers’ wages, 180 
Salaries paid school-teachers, 78, 79 
Salcedo, 140, 143-145 
Saleeby, Najeeb M., 156 
Salomon, William, and Company, 
17 

Salt, 67,185 

Samar Island, 4, 186, 193 
San Antonio hacienda, 208, 212 
Sanchex, A. M., soil physicist, 
quoted, 222 

San Fernando de Union, 22 
San Jos£, Batangas Province, 164 
San Juan de Ilog, 19 
San Lazaro, Manila, 320 
“ Sanscrit Influence in the Tagalog 
Tongue,” 156 

Sanskrit element in the language, 46, 
137-139 

Santa Maria, Mindanao, 132 
Savage rites, similarity in, 52 
Sawmills, 132, 257 
Sawyer, Frederick H., 102 


Schools, 70-86, 92, 353, 354 
School-teachers, 77-79, 81-84 
Scriptures circulated by Protestant 
missionaries, 325 
Sea-going Malays, 50,137, 306 
Self-government, natives learning, 
283-286, 289, 301 

Self-support of Philippine Govern¬ 
ment, 117 

“ Semi-civilized Tribes of the Philip¬ 
pine Islands, The,” 55 
Semper, Carl, 73,156 
Servants, 97, 100 
Sesamum, 171 

Sewing-machines, 63, 259, 358 
Sheep, 172 
Shepard, Frank, 203 
Sherman, Penoyer L., 134 
Shipbuilding, 181 

Shipping American goods to Philip¬ 
pines, 334—338 
Shoes, 64, 328, 339, 341 
Silos, 258 

Sisal hemp, 169, 204 
“ Six ann^es de voyages aux Philip¬ 
pines,” 86 
Size of farms, 161 
Slavery, 52, 106, 107, 140, 208, 355 
Sleeping places in peasants’ houses, 
65 

Small grains, 158 

Smallpox, Government treatment of, 
120 

Soap stocks, 187, 262 
Social gatherings, 56, 58, 67, 96, 268 
“ Social History of the Races of Man¬ 
kind, A,” 55* 102 

“ Soil Conditions in the Philippines,” 
228 

Soils, 157,158, 215, 222, 240, 241 
Sorghum, 158, 165 
Sorsogon, 354 

Sorsogon Province, 21, 186, 193 
Sousa’s Band, 91 
South American rice-terraces, 49 
Spanish conquest of Philippines, 138, 
316 

Spanish customs, 90 
Spanish influence, 285, 287, 288 



INDEX 


429 


Spanish introduction of products not 
native to Philippines, 159,160, 207 
Spanish language, 47, 74, 111, 321, 
333 

Spanish names borne by Filipinos, 
76 

Spanish police in Philippines. 319 
Spain’s restrictive rule, 104,105,150, 
177 

Spenders, Filipinos are good, 329 
Speyer and Company, 17 
Spices, 158 
Stallion fights, 173 
Stanley, H. J., of London, 188 
“ State of Philippine Islands,” 188 
“State of the Philippines,” 179 
Steamship lines, proposed new, 3 
Stone-cutting industry, 185 
Stores, 68 

“ Story of the Philippines, The,” 
295 

Stoves, substitutes for, 66 
Straits Settlements, rubber qulture 
in, 168 

Street-railways in Manila, 24, 32, 33, 
344-347 

Streets, Eastern, 346 
Strikes, 356 

Stubbs, William C., 250 
“ Studies in Moro History, Law, and 
Religion,” 156 

“ Studies of the Philippine Islands,” 
325 

Stumpage, 118,128, 129, 258 
Stuntz, Rev. Homer C., quoted, 94 
“Sucesos de las Islas Filipinos,” 156 
Suffrage, arguments to extend to 
women, 297 

Sugar and sugar cane, 19, 158-160, 
177, 183, 189, 194, 205, 219, 230- 
250, 256, 327 
Sugar bags, 262 
Sugar haciendas, size of, 119 
Sulphur, 185 

Sulu Archipelago, 145, 167, 273, 316, 
318 

Superstitions, 68, 69, 99 
Surra, a horse plague, 173 
Sweetmeats, 67 


Sweet potatoes, 158, 219 
Swift, Charles W., 17 


Taal Lake, 272 

Taal Volcano, 5, 156, 272 

“Tabac, Le,” 176 

Tabacalera Company, 208, 212, 274 

Tablas Island, 169 

Taft, William II., 94, 221, 223, 228, 
267, 288, 315, 321-323 
Tagalogs, 46, 72, 138, 140, 316 
Tanning industry, 258 
Tao, or farmer, 71 
Tapioca, 166 
Tariff laws, 116, 341 
Tarlac Province, Governor of, quo¬ 
ted, 303 

Tayabas Province, 22 
Taylor, Carson, 252 
Taylor, Captain John R. M., quoted, 
320 

Telegraph lines, 27, 148 
Telephone lines, 27, 113, 148 
Textile manufactures, 178,179, 261 
Textiles imported by Philippines, 
328 

Threads, 261 
Tiendas, or stores, 68 
Ties, railroad, 258 
Timber, 12, 122-132 
Timber lands, 117, 118 
Timerauy or jungle buffalo, 12 
“ Tobacco Leaf,” 228 
Tobacco monopoly, 147, 207-211, 
225 

Tobacco, raw and manufactured, 
158-160, 177, 180, 189, 205-228, 
231, 234, 240, 327, 356 
“ Tobacco Soils of the United States,” 
228 

Tomatoes, 158 

Tools, 162, 215, 242, 259, 328 
Torrens system in Philippines, 119 
Toys, 261 

Trades workers, instruction of, 353, 
354 

Tramp steamers, 4 

“Travels around the Earth,” 156 




430 


INDEX 


Travels in interior, 218, 219, 278, 
303-306 

Treaty of Paris, 116 
Tree-ferns, 277 
Tribal wars, 54 
“ Tropical Agriculture,” 176 
Tropical diseases, Government inves¬ 
tigation of, 120 

Tropics, conditions to health in the, 
37 

Tropics, goods suitable for, 329, 332, 
338 

Truth-telling, Oriental conception of, 
93, 94 

Tuguegarao, 215, 216, 218 
Typewriters imported bv Philippines, 
328 

Typhoons, 25 

United Brethren in Philippines, 324 
United States, consumption of rub¬ 
ber, 168 ; of Philippine tobacco, 
222, 228; of sugar, 245-247 
United States, cost of producing beet 
sugar, 235 

United States exports to Philippines, 
327 

University of Manila, 73, 74, 321 
University of Santa Tomas (Univer¬ 
sity of Manila), 73, 74 
Urdaneta, monument to, 312 
Urrez, Don Francisco, 178 

Valleys, 9 

Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 17 
Vegetable oils, 158, 171,177 
Vegetables, 158, 159,172, 219 
Vehicles imported by Philippines, 
328, 329, 341 

“Vida Filipina, La,” 290 
Vidal (^General History of the 
Philippines”), 156 
Vigan, 171 

Vigan, Bishop of, quoted, 303 
Villamor, Judge Ignacio, 294 
Vino, a native alcoholic drink, 111 
Virchow, Rudolf, 102 
Visayan Islands, 4, 138, 140, 232, 
233, 244 


Visayan Syndicate, 20 
Visit to the Philippine Islands, A,” 
69 

Vocalists, Filipino, 294 
Volcanic eruptions, 5 


Wages, 180, 181, 197, 237, 356, 357 
Wagon journey through interior, 
278 

Walled city of Manila, 264-266 
Walton, William, of London, 188 
Washing of food, 67 
Water buffalo, see Carabao 
Water hemp, 191 

Water supplj', measures to obtain 
pure, 28 

Weapons, the carrying of, 279 
Weddings, 96, 97 

“Weekly Sugar Trade Journal,” 
250 

Wheat, 159 

Wheeler, Charles E., 255 
Whiskey, 328 
White, John, 191 
White, J. G., and Company, 17 
Whitney, Milton, 228 
Wild boar, 11, 276, 279 
Wild tribes, 45, 46, 50, 52-54, 69, 297 
Willett and Gray, New York, pub¬ 
lishers, “ Weekly Sugar Trade 
Journal,” 250 
Willis, Henry Parker, 121 
Windmills, 339, 341 
Wire and wire cables imported by 
Philippines, 328 

Wire service, 27; see Telephone and 
Telegraph lines 

Women, American, in the Philip¬ 
pines, 202 

Women, native, 53, 54, 58-64, 95, 
296-302 

Wood, Major-General Leonard, 195, 
248, 352, 353 

Worcester, Dean C., 55, 99, 169, 219 
Workmen, Filipino, 343-352, 356- 
359 

Wray, Lieutenant, 184 
Wright, Gen. Luke E., 112 




INDEX 


Written native language before ad¬ 
vent of Spanish, 46, 71, 138 

Xerez, Dr. Manuel, quoted, 99 

“ Yankees of the Philippines,” 358 
Yarns and threads, 261 


431 

v 

Yngchausti, and Company, 256, 257 
Younghusband, G. J., 188 

Zamboanga, Mindanao, 35,169, 185, 
273, 354 
'Zinc, 185 
Zinn, A. 0., 169 


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